The neurocognitive basis of deception: Individual differences of N2-related conflict monitoring in a social deception task

Conflict monitoring was investigated as a neuro-cognitive process of deception. To investigate individual differences of conflict monitoring during a social deception task, we employed the fronto-central N2 component of the electroencephalogram. N = 96 participants (male = 48) reported the trustworthiness or untrustworthiness of previously learned faces in two experimental conditions (affective vs. neutral) either truthfully or deceptively and completed the German BIS/BAS scales and the Conflict Monitoring Questionnaire-44. For an assessment of the robustness of the results, the N2 was quantified using three different quantification methods. Peak-to-peak N2 amplitudes were more negative following untrustworthy vs. trustworthy stimuli regardless of the truthfulness, indicating their sensitivity to negative affect. None of the investigated traits had a significant effect on the individual extent of conflict monitoring. The peak-to-peak amplitude appeared to be most suitable for quantifying the N2 in the examination of conflict monitoring during deception. Results indicated shorter response times and higher correct rates for truthful responses. Since the significance of the Picture type main effect varies with the N2 quantification method, assessing reliability data and examining paradigm parameters could clarify the impact of different N2 quantification approaches on achieving excellent reliability.