A unifying theory proposed by Avital Ginton (2009) to explain the underlying mechanisms in PDD. According to the RIG theory, the force induced by aggregation of qualities possessed by the relevant issue attracts and binds the guilty examinee’s attention to the relevant questions in a manner not experienced by the innocent examinee. It is manifested in the preoccupation in the guilty examinee’s mind with the relevant issue and in difficulties to divert attention to other topics or issues. It is postulated that the RIG strength for the guilty examinees on average is stronger than the RIG strength for the truth-tellers. Therefore, it is harder to divert the attention of the guilty examinee to the comparison question and relatively easier to do that with the truth-tellers. The theory is compatible with existing experimental evidence, and does not rely on older hypotheses regarding the central role of fear to explain polygraph reactions. See: Ginton (2009).
