Abstract
We use the term (Sub)liminal Salience Search (SSS) to describe humans' extraordinary capacity to (pre)consciously "locate" stimuli that are salient to them [2]. A particularly compelling demonstration is Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, in which the vast majority of stimuli presented are not perceived sufficiently to encode into working memory (hence the term (sub)liminal), but ones that are salient breakthrough into consciousness and are encoded (hence the term search). In addition, the P3 is an EEG correlate of such breakthrough, giving a means to determine what a participant's brain finds salient. We will discuss how theories, such as the Simultaneous Type/ Serial Token model [1], explain SSS, and how it can be used in deception detection [2]. We will review our experiments showing that this Fringe-P3 identity detector is resilient against countermeasures, e.g. artificially elevating the response to the control stimulus [3]. Then we will present our new experimental findings, which show that famous names presented in RSVP break into awareness and that such breakthrough can be detected with EEG on a per-individual basis. This suggests that our Fringe-P3 method can be generalised beyond the exquisite salience of own-name, allowing it to be applied across a variety of Forensics settings. [1] Bowman, and Wyble (2007) The Simultaneous Type, Serial Token Model of Temporal Attention and Working Memory. Psychological Review, 114(1). 38-70. [2] Bowman, et al (2013) Subliminal Salience Search Illustrated: EEG Identity and Deception Detection on the Fringe of Awareness. PLoS-ONE, 8(1). 1-21. [3] Bowman, et al (2014) Countering Countermeasures: Detecting Identity Lies by Detecting Conscious Breakthrough. PLoS-ONE, 9(3). 1-17.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015