HowthebrainadaptstodishonestyLawandthewholetruth

11th August2017

NeilGarrettPrincetonNeuroscienceInstitute

Dishonestyintherealworld

Dishon

esty

Time

“SlipperySlope”effect

Causesofdishonesty

Theroleofemotionindishonesty

Schacter &Latane (1964);Dienstbier &Osbourne (1971);

betablockers(reducesemotionalarousal)

Emotionalarousalcanalsobereducedthroughabiologicalprocess:emotionaladaptation

EmotionalAdaptation

EmotionalAdaptation

Brieter etal.(1996);Fisheretal.(2003);Ishai etal.(2004)

Adaptivefunction– preventslongtermstatesofarousal

Time

Emotionalrespo

nse

Couldadaptationalsoworkagainstus?

Aslipperyslope?

Time

Emotionalrespo

nse

Dishonesty

Aslipperyslope?

Time

Emotionalrespo

nse

Dishonesty

StudyAims

Time

StudyAims

Time

Dishonesty

1.Empiricalevidencefordishonestyescalation?

Causesofdishonesty

X X X

StudyAims

Time

Emotionalrespo

nse

Dishonesty

1.Empiricalevidencefordishonestyescalation?

2.Empiricalevidenceforemotionaladaptation?

StudyAims

Time

Dishonesty

1.Empiricalevidencefordishonestyescalation?

FinancialTask

Experimenter Participant Actor

Yourtaskistoestimatehowmuchmoneyisinajar

TaskDesign

YouareTheAdvisor.You

willgettoseealargepictureofeachjarfor3seconds.

Participant=Advisor Actor=Estimator

YouareTheEstimator.Youwillgettoseeasmallpictureofeachjarfor1

second.

YouwillbothbepaidaccordingtohowaccuratetheEstimatoris.

Weshouldworkasateamtowinmoremoney!

TaskDesign

£30 £20 £35 £28

TheAdvisorwillgetrewardedaccordingtohow

high TheEstimator’sestimateis.TheEstimatorwillgetrewardedaccording

tohowaccurate hisestimateis.

IfI lieIwillearnmore

moneybutnottheEstimator…

…butifIgive

honestadvicethiswillmeanmoremoneyforTheEstimator.

TaskDesign

TaskDesign

£30 £20 £35 £28£35 £25 £40 £42

£20

Dishonesty=£5

QuantifyingDishonesty(example)

£25

DishonestyEscalation

0

4

8

12

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Dishon

esty(£

)

Numberoftimesdishonest

ADeliberateStrategy?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Pe

rcen

tage

of p

artic

ipan

tsWhatwasthestrategyyouused?

71%

18% 11%0%

Areweaware ofourowndishonesty?

-2

-1

0

1

2n.s.

Errorsinre

ported

dish

onesty

(repo

rted

–actualdish

onesty)

Accurate

Howdishonestwereyouinthelasttrial?

IncreasinglyInaccurate

IncreasinglyInaccurate

StudyAims

Time

Dishonesty

1.Empiricalevidencefordishonestyescalation?

StudyAims

Time

Emotionalrespo

nse

Dishonesty

1.Empiricalevidencefordishonestyescalation?

2.Empiricalevidenceforemotionaladaptation?

Experimenter Participant

Howbaddoyoufeelrightnow?

AccessingEmotion

Accessingemotion- fMRI

TheAmygdala

NeuralAdaptation

0

4

8

12

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Dishon

esty(£

)

Numberoftimesdishonest

AmygdalaresponseincreasingX

EmotionalAdaptation

-0.40

-0.30

-0.20

-0.10

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

1 2

Emot

iona

l Ada

ptat

ion

(Am

ygda

la)

(par

amet

ric b

etas

)

Control Condition

*

n.s.

Dishonesty Condition

EmotionalAdaptationandDishonestyEscalationDishon

esty(£

)

1 2 3

?

Numberofrepetitionsofdishonestact

EmotionalAdaptationandDishonestyEscalationDishon

esty(£

)

Numberofrepetitionsofdishonestact

1 2 3

-0.15

-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

Self Serving (no effect on Other) Other Serving (no effect on Self)

Pred

ictin

g di

shon

esty

from

ada

ptat

ion

Self Harming, Other Serving

*

n.s.

SensoryAdaptation

SensoryAdaptation

SensoryAdaptation

EmotionalAdaptation

EmotionalAdaptation

EmotionalAdaptation

CurbingDishonesty

Emotionalresponsesacttorestraindishonesty…

…findwaystoreinstatethese

Time

NeuralRespo

nse

Dishonesty

Ageneralmechanism?

Whoarewebeingdishonestto?

What“type”ofdishonestyisit?

Environment?

Time

NeuralRespo

nse

Ageneralmechanism?

Violence RiskTakingDishonesty

• Adaptationamitigatingfactor?

• Useofliedetection(polygraphs,fmri)incourt

• Ashifttopreventingsmalleractsofdishonesty?

Implicationsforjurisprudence

Tali Sharot

Thanks!

DanAriely

StephanieLazzaro

END