Deception and the misinformation effect: An event-related potential study

Research in the field of deception often tests participants' ability to lie about information with which they are familiar and have a strong recall of base truth. The current study examined the impact of uncertainty in memory on the ability to deceive, as may happen in real-world eye-witness scenarios. A visual misinformation paradigm was combined with event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the impact of deception and misinformation on ERP components previously associated with deception and memory processes. Deception was associated with strong parietal P3b suppression and a large frontal negativity (N400). Misinformation was also associated with parietal P3b suppression and had effects on a late positive component (LPC) in occipital regions. The results indicate that while deception and memory uncertainty may have combined effects, they still both independently influence information processing.

► We examined the impact of memory conflict on deception with ERPs.
► We created conflict in long-term memory via a misinformation paradigm.
► Deception workload created stronger suppression of the P3b and a stronger N400.
► Misinformation paired with deception increased P3b suppression.