The role of automatic memory retrieval in deception : developing a binding model of deceptive and truthful discourse

Until today, research on deception primarily focuses on the creation and execution of firsttime lies, while cognitive processes occurring after this point are only rarely considered. The aim of the current thesis is to extend the knowledge in this field by establishing a connection to current theories on binding and retrieval in action control. More specifically, it is investigated whether automatic processes help to recognize situations that are similar to a formerly deceptive situation, and therefore support people in successfully repeating their lies whenever it is needed. The empirical works presented within the current thesis are based on a study providing first evidence that reencountering a question that one has answered deceptively before, automatically activates the knowledge of having lied to this specific question (Koranyi et al., 2015). To illustrate this new perspective on lying processes, a binding model of deceptive and truthful discourse is introduced that in its structure reflects the possible perspective of binding and retrieval accounts on the topic. The model contains three core components: the relevant situational features (e.g., the person spoken to or the question answered), abstract as well as concrete information about the given response, and internal control states, like a suppression tendency. Whether and under which conditions binding and retrieval processes can be found for these components, is the superordinate issue that the studies presented in Chapters 2 to 5 are concerned with. in the light of the presented empirical findings, the core components of the binding model of deceptive and truthful discourse are reconsidered and refined, as are the relations among them. This integration not only helps to improve the model, but also reveals open research questions and allows for specific predictions with regard to future empirical studies.