Abstract
The Concealed Information Test (CIT) enables the detection of certain (e.g., crime-relevant or personal) information, even if participants aim to conceal their knowledge. The current preregistered study investigated whether previously observed impairing effects of alcohol intoxication on participants’ performance in a reaction time CIT (RT CIT) field study also translate to a laboratory environment. In contrast to the previous study of Suchotzki and Gamer (Sci Rep 8:7825, 2018) in which alcohol consumption was voluntary and self-administered, the current study used a randomized assignment of participants to either an alcohol group (n = 88; receiving a drink with 3 cl alcohol) or a sober control group (n = 89; receiving a drink with just some alcohol drops to hide group assignment). After drink administration, participants completed an RT CIT, in which they were instructed to hide knowledge of their own identity. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was estimated via breath alcohol ratio. In contrast to the previous field study, results revealed no differences in CIT-performance between intoxicated and sober participants. Aside from questioning the robustness of the result of the previous field study, our results also point to a number of interesting theoretical explanations for the discrepancy between both results, which are elaborated in the discussion.
Highlights
The Concealed Information Test (CIT) enables the detection of certain information, even if participants aim to conceal their knowledge
Results were in line with the idea that acute alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive functioning, as higher alcohol intoxication correlated with enlarged reaction time CIT (RT CIT)-effects
The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on the RT CIT-effect observed in Suchotzki and Gamer[6] can be replicated in a controlled laboratory context with a randomized assignment of participants to an alcohol or a sober control condition
Summary
The Concealed Information Test (CIT) enables the detection of certain (e.g., crime-relevant or personal) information, even if participants aim to conceal their knowledge. In a more genuine deception paradigm, Kireev et al.[4] observed diminished behavioral (i.e., reaction times) and neural (i.e., event-related potentials) differences between lying and truth telling in intoxicated compared to sober participants. These results should be evaluated with caution due to the very small sample size of n = 13. Results were in line with the idea that acute alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive functioning, as higher alcohol intoxication correlated with enlarged RT CIT-effects (i.e., differences between deceptively denying knowledge of their own personal information compared to truthfully denying knowledge of irrelevant information). The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on the RT CIT-effect observed in Suchotzki and Gamer[6] can be replicated in a controlled laboratory context with a randomized assignment of participants to an alcohol or a sober control condition
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