MAJOR COMPONENTS OF POLYGRAPH

MAJOR UNITS/SECTIONS OF POLYGRAPH INSTRUMENT (PCG-K)

The standard polygraph instrument is composed of four major sections namely:

1. Pneumograph Component

2. Cardio-Sphymograph Component

3. Galvanic Skin Reflex (GSR) Component

4. Kymograph

1. PNEUMOGRAPH

 The pneumograph component records the changes of breathing of the subject.

 It is made up of two units, the Pneumograph chest assembly and the recording

unit.

 The Pneumograph assembly is composed of the rubber-convoluted tube as the

principal sensor and banded chain tubing for attachment.

 One is to be attached on the lower thorax and the other is to be attached on the

upper thorax.

 It is designed to detect and record changes in respiration of the subject which

consists of the ff:

 Rubber Convoluted Tube - about 10 inches corrugated rubber attached to the

body of the subject.

 Beaded Chain - used to lock the rubber convoluted tube.

 Recording Pen Unit - consisting of two 5 inches recording pen.

 Centering Knob - used to center the pen.

 Sensitivity Knob - used to adjust the desired size of tracings.

 Vent - used to release excess pressure from the system.

 Pneumo Module - located inside the instrument that receives the reactions

detected by the corrugated tube and moves the pen to record the reactions on

the chart.
Two common placements

 upper chest (Thoracic)

 Lower Chest just above the stomach (abdominal)

Two kinds of Pneumo Modules

 Electronic Pneumo

 Mechanical Pneumo

Pioneers that contributed to the development & use of the Cardiospyghmograph

in lie detection:

 Vittorio Benussi - (1914) noted the changes in inhalation and exhalation ratio

occurring during deception. He recorded the respiratory curves of the

pneumograph.

 Harold Burtt - a scientist who, in 1918 determined that the respiratory changes

were signs of deception and concluded that systolic pressure changes are

valuable in determining deception.

2. CARDIO-SPHYGMOGRAPH

 The Cardio-sphygmograph component records the changes of the blood

pressure, heart rate and pulse rate of the subject.

 It is composed of the blood pressure cuff assembly which serves as the main

sensor, sphygmomanometer (BP) vent, and resonance control and recording

unit.
 The Arm cuff is usually attached at the upper right arm but it is preferably

attached depending on the handedness of the subject provided GSR and arm

cuff will not be attached on the same hand.

 It is designed to detect changes in the cardiovascular activity of the subject. It

consists of:

 Blood Pressure Cuff - attached to the upper right arm of the subject, above the

brachial artery.

Sphygmomanometer - used to indicate the amount of air pressure inflated to the

system. Usually about 60 mm of mercury for male subject.

 Recording Pen Unit - five (5) inches length

 Air Pump/Pump Bulb - designed to supply air to the system

 Cardio Module - located inside the instrument that receives the reactions

detected by the cuff and moves the pen to record the reactions on the chart

 Sensitivity Control - used to adjust the desired size of tracings

 Centering Control - designed to center the pen on the chart

 Vent - Used to release excess pressure from the system

Cardio-sphygmograph provides a record of the following:

 Relative Blood Volume/Pressure - is the changes in the average value of the

cardio tracing (waveform) with respect to a baseline.

 Diastolic Blood Pressure - refers to the downward blood pressure representing

the low pressure to the closing of the valves and heart relaxed.

 Systolic Blood Pressure - the upward blood pressure as the apex of the curve

caused by the contraction of the heart, valves are open and blood is rushing into

the arteries.

 Pulse Amplitude - is the changes in pulse amplitude (tracing height)

independent of baseline.

 Pulse Rate - changes in heart rate or time between pulses.

 Dicrotic Notch - changes in relative position of the dicrotic notch or pulse

waveform

- Short horizontal notch in a cardio-tracing located at the middle of the diastolic

stem
Pioneers that contributed to the development & use of the Cardiospyghmograph

in lie detection:

 Cesare Lombroso – An Italian scientist who in 1885 used hydrospygmograph

procedure and was credited to be the pioneer who envisioned the idea of using

scientific procedures to lie detection. He is considered as the first person to use

an instrument for the purpose of detecting deception.

 Angelo Mosso – A pioneer who developed in 1895 a type of sphygmanometer

and utilized a scientific cradle and focus on the significance of fear as an

indication of deception.

 Marston was also the creator of the systolic blood pressure test, which lead to

the creation of the polygraph (lie detector). Because of his discovery, Marston

was convinced that women were more honest and reliable than men and could

work faster and more accurately.

 John A. Larson- developed an instrument that continually and simultaneously

measures blood pressure, pulse and respiration. He designed the first two

recording channel polygraph in the history. The first mechanical form of detecting

deceptions because it does not only have a recording pen for cardio, pneumo, &

galvano but also it has the muscular movement pen for the arms and thighs.

3. GALVANOGRAPH

 The Galvanograph component records the skin resistance of the subject to a

very small amount of electricity.

 It is composed of the finger electrode assembly which serves as the main

sensor, amplifier unit and the galvanometer-recorder unit.

 The earliest attempt at a scientific approach to the development of diagnostic

instrumentation for lie detection dates back 1791 by an Italian Physiologist Luigi

Galvani for whom the modern galvanometer as named has already

experimented with the use of electricity in relation to muscular motion.

 The finger electrode connects the subject to the instrument in such manner that

his skin resistance is a circuit element of the polygraph.

Finger electrodes are usually attached on the index and ring finger.

 It is designed to detect changes in skin resistance of the subject. Consists of:

A. Finger Electrode Assembly consists of:

 Finger Electrode Plate and Retainer Bond - attached to the index and ring

finger of the subject.

 Connecting Plug - attached the system to the instrument

B. Recording Pen Unit - usually 7 inches

C. Amplifier Unit - designed to support the galvanometer in converting electrical to

mechanical current.

D. Sensitivity Control - used to adjust the desired size of tracings

E. Centering Control - designed to center the pen on the chart

F. GSR Module - located inside the instrument that receives the reactions detected by

the finger electrodes and moves the pen to record the reactions on the chart

G. Galvanic Skin Response - is the change in the body’s resistance to the passage of

a minute electrical sensing current.

Personalities involved in the development & use of galvanograph:

 Sticker - (1897) worked on the galvanograph component & studied the influence

and relation of the sweat glands to skin resistance.

 Veraguth - (1907) formulated the term psycho-galvanic skin reflex. He claimed

that electrical phenomena are due to the activity of the sweat glands.

 Richard O. Arthur- developed an improvised polygraph machine with two

galvanic skin resistance.

 In 1908 Dr. Boris Sidis conducted "A Study of Galvanic Deflections Due to

Psycho-Physiological Phenomena" in order to investigate the relation of emotions

and physiological activities to galvanometric deflections. They concluded that the

observed galvanometric changes were caused by physiological processes

concomitant with the mental states aroused by the stimuli.

4. KYMOGRAPH

 A motor or device that pulls or drives the chart paper under the recording pen

simultaneously.

 The one that records the different tracing by driving the paper out under the

recording pen unit.

 Chart – rolled graph paper composed of twelve division in one minute run

designated to measure the rate of various body functioning. The chart paper is

length 100 ft. if the paper is about the end, the narrow green line is sign.

 Rubber Roller – the one responsible for pulling the paper out of the machine.

 Paper trail guide – serves as the security for the unnecessary movement of the

chart paper or to ensure the paper’s forward movement without shaking.

 Pen and inking system – the one that provides for the permanent record of the

test.

Personalities involved in the development & use of galvanograph:

 Leonarde Keeler - made a modification of Larson’s instrument

- Developed the kymograph and the Keeler’s Polygraph in the year 1926 as one of

the great advancements to the development of the polygraph machine.

- He also incorporated the kymograph and the rolled chart paper. He used these

developments together with cardio and pneumo components.

- Keleer is known as the Father of Modern Polygraphy

- The first polygraph (lie detector), suitable for use in criminal investigations, was

invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson (1892-1965) a medical student at

the University of California and a police officer of the Berkeley Police Department
 (Berkeley, California, USA). Dr. Larson, born in Shelbourne, Nova Scotia,

Canada, was the first to simultaneously record more than one physiological

parameter with the purpose of detecting deception. Dr. Larson developed and

utilized the continuous method of concurrently registering changes in pulse rate,

blood pressure, and respiration.

Leonarde Keeler (1903-1949), born in North Berkeley, California, USA, is the

most prominent polygraph examiner of all times. Having conducted over 30,000

polygraph examinations, Leonarde Keeler was one of the world's foremost scientific

criminologists, whose contribution to the stature of the field of lie detection is merely

immeasurable and invaluable. In 1925, Leonarde Keeler (a Stanford University

psychology major working at the Berkeley Police Department), developed two

significant improvements to Larson's polygraph: a metal bellows (tambour) to better

record changes in blood pressure, pulse and respiration patterns, and a kymograph,

which allowed chart paper to be pulled under the recording pens at a constant speed. In

1936, Keeler added a third physiological component to his polygraph – the

Psychogalvanometer – a device for measuring changes in a person’s skin resistance.

This version of Keeler's polygraph was the prototype of the modern polygraph, and

Keeler himself is therefore considered the "father of modern polygraph". In addition

to improving the polygraph, Keeler is also credited with numerous contributions to

polygraph examination technique.

 Leonarde Keeler invented the famous Keeler Polygraph, for which he received a

patent in 1931. It became the most widely used polygraph in the world for the next three

decades. The Keeler Polygraph was actively utilized at the Scientific Crime Detection

Laboratory at Northwestern University (Chicago), which was headed by Keeler between

1936 and 1938. By 1935 Keeler had conducted polygraph examinations on

approximately 2000 criminal suspects.

In 1948 Leonarde Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute, located on Ohio

Street in Chicago – the first polygraph school in the world. The institute trained many

prominent people in the field of Polygraphy.