Eye Gazing Behaviors in Online Deception

Psychophysiological behaviors of deceivers have been used as an effective leakage channel of face-to-face deception. Among various psychophysiological behaviors, eye movement has been identified as one of the most reliable sources of deception behavior in face-to-face communication. However, empirical studies of eye movement behavior in online deception remain scarce. In this research, we investigated eye gazing behaviors of deceivers in online video chatting. Based on the findings of previous deception studies and the unique characteristics of online video chatting, we hypothesized that online deception has an impact on eye gazing behaviors. In addition, we innovatively operationalized eye gazing behaviors in terms of areas of interest. We conducted a lab-based experiment to test the hypotheses. The results supported the effect of deception on eye gazing behaviors. The findings of this study provide insights on how to improve the performance of online deception detection and how to apply eye tracking technologies to understand emerging human behaviors in online communication

Design Principles for Special Purpose, Embodied, Conversational Intelligence with Environmental Sensors (SPECIES) Agents

As information systems increase their ability to gather and analyze data from the natural environment and as computational power increases, the next generation of human-computer interfaces will be able to facilitate more lifelike and natural interactions with humans. This can be accomplished by using sensors to non-invasively gather information from the user, using artificial intelligence to interpret this information to perceive users’ emotional and cognitive states, and using customized interfaces and responses based on embodied-conversational-agent (avatar) technology to respond to the user. We refer to this novel and unique class of intelligent agents as Special Purpose Embodied Conversational Intelligence with Environmental Sensors (SPECIES) agents. In this paper, we build on interpersonal communication theory to specify four essential design principles of all SPECIES agents. We also share findings of initial research that demonstrates how SPECIES agents can be deployed to augment human tasks. Results of this paper organize future research efforts in collectively studying and creating more robust, influential, and intelligent SPECIES agents

Automated Human Screening for Detecting Concealed Knowledge

Screening individuals for concealed knowledge has traditionally been the purview of professional interrogators investigating a crime. But the ability to detect when a person is hiding important information would be of high value to many other fields and functions. This dissertation proposes design principles for and reports on an implementation and empirical evaluation of a non-invasive, automated system for human screening. The screening system design (termed an automated screening kiosk or ASK) is patterned after a standard interviewing method called the Concealed Information Test (CIT), which is built on theories explaining psychophysiological and behavioral effects of human orienting and defensive responses. As part of testing the ASK proof of concept, I propose and empirically examine alternative indicators of concealed knowledge in a CIT. Specifically, I propose kinesic rigidity as a viable cue, propose and instantiate an automated method for capturing rigidity, and test its viability using a traditional CIT experiment. I also examine oculomotor behavior using a mock security screening experiment using an ASK system design. Participants in this second experiment packed a fake improvised explosive device (IED) in a bag and were screened by an ASK system. Results indicate that the ASK design, if implemented within a highly controlled framework such as the CIT, has potential to overcome barriers to more widespread application of concealed knowledge testing in government and business settings