Research Article Open Access

HEMIFACIAL SKIN TEMPERATURE CHANGES RELATED TO DECEPTION:BLOOD FLOW OR THERMAL CAPACITANCE?

Abstract

The relationship between facial skin surface temperature and deception was examined using thermal image data collected during credibility assessment interviews of 21 U. S. Army basic trainees, some of whom had previously engaged in a mock theft. Facial regions of interest included the right hemiface, and three sub-regions overlying the periorbital, carotid, and cheek areas. Successive presentations of interview questions resulted in significant mean hemifacial temperature increases during the first block of testing, followed by temperature decreases throughout the remainder of the question sequence. The only facial temperature region of interest that was significantly related to deception was the cheek sub-region, which has a large soft tissue mass. These results suggest thatthe ability of the cheek region to store thermal energy after it is heated by the blood (thermal capacitance) contributes to the pattern of facial temperature changes seen during a credibility assessment interview

Dean A. Pollina, Stuart M. Senter, Robert G. Cutlip

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