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Chapter 30 The Covert Information Test: No matter how secret you are hiding
Concealed information test (CIT for short) is a kind of question-making technique widely used in psychological tests. Its psychological basis is the over-processing of case-related information and the advantage extraction effect.The hidden information test method mainly focuses on the selective recognition effect of the testee on several homogeneous stimulus information, and is a typical scheme to realize psychological information detection.

§§§ Section [-] Principles of Covert Information Test

From the perspective of psychological information detection, the direct participants of a case often "overprocess" the "full-scale crime scene" for a long time after committing the crime, that is, repeatedly replay the crime scene in the participants' brains. The whole process is an involuntary reaction, which is difficult for normal people to control with consciousness.

The existence of "over-processing" enables the key information in the process of committing a crime to be highlighted in the "full-scale crime scene" according to the sequence of time and space, and then becomes the key information of the criminal suspect's cognitive processing, and the dominant processing occurs in the process of memory retrieval effect.Under the guidance of this principle, the hidden information test takes the explicit or potential plot involved as the key psychological stimulus, and at the same time sets the background stimulus with a comparison function.When the information highly related to the real case in the criminal's memory is activated, the existing psychological information will be highlighted on the background information, which will immediately form a stressful event and induce regular changes in specific physiological indicators.

The hidden information test method pays more attention to the psychological traces hidden in the memory of the tested person. Therefore, in order to realize the accurate identification and extraction of the key information involved in the case, it is necessary to understand the psychological activity rules of the tested person, and according to the psychological activity rules Targetedly design the topic compilation system.

§§§ Types of Items in Section [-] Hidden Information Test

The hidden information test mainly includes the following three types of edited questions.

First, the tension peak test and the crime plot test are representative types of hidden information tests.The tension peak test was first summarized and proposed by Keeler in 1930. Its basic form is to place the determined or most likely target question in the middle of the foil question sequence, so as to verify the tension peak trend of the response map.

The second is the criminal plot test. The criminal plot test was proposed by Lakeken in 1958. It is mainly aimed at the systematic extension and expansion of the traditional tension peak test. The basic principle is the same as the tension peak test. Modern psychological testing technology has combined these two types of tests Unified under the CIT system.

The third is the incentive test, that is, the preparatory simulation test before the formal test.The basic forms include number or word guessing tests, zodiac signs tests, etc. The main purpose is to understand the general situation of the psychological and physiological reactions of the tested people, and to test and confirm the data collection function of the testing equipment.

§§§ Section [-] Test Orientation of Covert Information Test

Hidden information test is a kind of question-making technique widely used in psychological tests. The basic test unit of this method is composed of a group of similar questions, and on this basis, two test orientations are extended.

The first is the exploratory testing approach (also known as "unknown hidden information testing").This orientation is to use several plots that may be related to the case as target question options when the case information is ambiguous, and present them as stimulus items in parallel to the subjects. According to the regular response on the Internet, and then search out the information related to the case in the unknown plot, and provide a reference for determining the direction of investigation, ascertaining and reviewing evidence.

The second is the confirmatory testing approach (also known as "known hidden information testing").This approach is to take the known definite circumstances as the target questions directly related to the case, and at the same time set up several foil questions with the same structure and the same possibility.The tester presents this group of questions as stimulus items to the testees in parallel, and then observes the testees’ responses to the known target questions and the differences in the testee’s responses to the target questions and the foil questions. Rounds of testing and quantitative scoring are used to draw test conclusions and to determine whether the person under test is involved in the crime.

§§§ Section [-] Question Form for the Covert Information Test

Covert information testing mainly involves three basic types of question forms, namely, target questions (or called key questions, related questions, target questions, etc.), foil questions (or called background questions) and irrelevant questions (or called non-related questions). ).In addition, in actual operation, according to the different test types and test orientations, corresponding auxiliary questions are set on the basis of the above three forms, including weak correlation questions and bottom-up questions.

1. Goal Questions
Target questions are those that are directly related to the case or that the test is intended to address.The target questions are derived from those involving time, space and human and material factors related to the case, mainly including plots, objects, personnel characteristics, environmental characteristics, etc. The degree of conformity between the content of the topic and the real plot directly determines the effect of the test.Therefore, two basic requirements should be followed when setting target questions. One is "accuracy requirements". The target question must be "monopolistic information" that only involves limited knowledge (perpetrators and investigators). Careful and detailed on-site analysis aims to accurately hit the psychological information involved in the crime in the memory storage system of the perpetrator. If the early investigation and judgment are inaccurate, or the selected plot does not prompt the perpetrator to "over-process" and form dominant memory information , there may be misjudgment; the other is "specificity requirements". On the basis of ensuring accuracy, the selected target questions should convey relevant information about the case in as much detail as possible, and directly involve the specific characteristics of various factors in the case. For example, the internal and external attributes such as the color and texture of the tools or objects involved in the crime, as well as the method of committing the crime, the route of entering and exiting the scene, and the physical characteristics of the victim. Rate.

For the unknown hidden information test, because the case information is relatively vague, it is impossible to set a certain plot as the target problem.In this sense, each topic in the unknown information test is a target question, and what the test needs to do is to identify which one is the real relevant information from many possible situations.In addition, in the unknown information test, there is a potential risk that the real case information does not fall within the range of the selected exploratory plot, therefore, in addition to the listed possibility options, there should be a cover " "All other situations", if there is a response to the bottom question, the tester will be prompted to adjust the thinking of the question and demonstrate the effectiveness of the selected plot in depth.

2. Foil problem
Foil questions are mainly set within the framework of the known hidden information test, mainly derived from those plots that are similar to the content involved in the target question, but do not appear in the case, such questions and the target question have the same structure in form , which express homogeneous conceptual categories in connotation, and are at the same level as the target problem.The purpose of setting up the foil question is to hide the key information of the case in several homogeneous interference information, which together constitute an equivalent question group, aiming at weakening the psychological impact of the single target question on the testee. The test highlighted the perpetrator's comparative effect on the two types of questions.When setting up foil problems, in addition to following the above-mentioned principles of equivalence and homogeneity, the following issues should also be paid attention to:
First, if the selected foil question has some special meaning for the perpetrator, it may cause the real perpetrator to have a strong reaction, thus causing misjudgment. Fully understand the person being tested;
Second, if there is a certain connection between the foil question and the relevant information of the case, then the selected foil question has actually become a case-related question, which may also cause the real perpetrator to react on such questions. Questions require detailed analysis and demonstration of the case information before the test, exhausting the scope of the target question to the greatest extent.

3. Non-related questions

Non-relevant questions, also known as neutral questions, refer to questions that are obviously factual and have nothing to do with the case, such as, "Are you from the South?" "Is today Wednesday?" and so on.The main purpose of setting non-related questions is to complete pre-test warm-up, divide different test areas, etc. In the system test system, such questions are also an important source of test noise.In covert information tests, unrelated questions are generally placed at the beginning and end of a group of items to balance the "first item response" at the beginning of the test (responses triggered by the psychological shock of the priming phase) and the "final item response" at the end of the test (induced by Responses elicited by end-anticipation effects).

§§§ Section [-] Functions and Limitations of the Covert Information Test

The covert information test mainly focuses on the selective recognition effect of the testee on several homogeneous stimulus information. This test mode sets up the "target-foil" set of questions to explore or verify that the target problem is stronger in psychological orientation reflection. The "signal value" is a typical scheme to realize the detection of psychological information.

Covert information test items are generally not restricted by the quality of the conversation before the test and the interaction between the two sides of the test. It is easier to start the test under the "double-blind" condition of both testers, and it is easy to realize the standardization of test procedures. This also makes the hidden information test items accurate. Higher requirements have been put forward for sex and specificity.

In addition, different from the criterion problem, the covert information test has some specific requirements on the case conditions and the conditions of the testee, which brings relatively large limitations to the promotion and implementation of the covert information test. The specific performance is as follows: first, The concealed information test is suitable for cases with good information conditions. In such cases, the range of suspects is relatively clear, and the confidentiality of event-related information is relatively good, which will help identify those problems related to criminal behavior. There are many unpredictable additional interference factors in the test, which can easily destroy the test conditions, which makes it difficult to fully guarantee the confidentiality of the case; secondly, the nature of the concealed information test determines that this test can only be "informed" to the testee. This is an all-or-nothing distinction model. The test results obtained based on this model have a vague definition of the range of insiders, and it is impossible to target the "actual participants in the crime" among the insiders. "Partially informed perpetrators" and "partially informed non-perpetrators" and other different situations, such as "partially informed perpetrators" and "partially informed non-perpetrators"; Counter-testing offers the possibility.

In view of the above considerations, in the modern psychological testing technology system, the hidden information test is often used in combination with the criterion question test, and the emphasis is adjusted appropriately according to the purpose and requirements of the test, so as to maximize the advantages of the hidden information test and ultimately provide a basis for the investigation of the case. Provide clues and references.

(End of this chapter)