Does " to rob the experiment of verisimilitude" mean...?

Does " to rob the experiment of verisimilitude" mean "to greatly weaken the validity of the experiment of high simulation"?

Context:

The results of the Spence study were susceptible to some obvious limitations, however-perhaps most glaring was the fact tha the subjects were told precisely when to lie by being given a visual cue. Needless to say, this did much to rob the experiment of verisimilitude. The natural ecology of deception is one in which a potential liar must notice when questions draw near to factual terrain that he is committed to keeping hidden, and he must lie as the situation warrants, while respecting the criteria for logical coherence and consistency that he and his interlocutor share. (It is worth noting that unless one respects the norms of reasoning and belief formation, it is impossible to lie successfully. This is not an accident.) To be asked to lie automatically in response to a visual cue simply does not simulate ordinary acts of deception. Spence et al. did much toremedy this problem in a subsequent study, where subjects could lie at their own discretion and on subjects related to their personal histories (Spence, Kaylor-Hughes,
Farrow, & Wilkinson, 2008).

-Sam Harris