Finding a needle in a haystack: Toward a psychologically informed method for aviation security screening.
Year: 2014
Type: article
Study designs: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial
Abstract: Current aviation security systems identify behavioral indicators of deception to assess risks to flights, but they lack a strong psychological basis or empirical validation. We present a new method that tests the veracity of passenger accounts. In an in vivo double-blind randomized-control trial conducted in international airports, security agents detected 66% of deceptive passengers using the veracity test method compared with less than 5% using behavioral indicator recognition. As well as revealing advantages of veracity testing over behavioral indicator identification, the study provides the highest levels to date of deception detection in a realistic setting where the known base rate of deceptive individuals is low.
DOI: 10.1037/xge0000030
Authors: Thomas C. Ormerod, Coral J. Dando
Institutions: University of Sussex, University of Wolverhampton
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2097933763