SCIENTIFIC METHODS

OF DETECTING
DECEPTION
Forerunners

◦ Hypnotism
Hypnotism or hypnosis can be a useful tool in clarifying the likelihood and nature
of malingering and deception. When misused, hypnotic techniques may create
deception for example, a witness being made into an ‘honest liar’ who fully believes in
a dishonest account.
Forerunners

◦ The Truth Serum Method

“Truth serum” refers to a various drugs that have been used in attempts to
extract truthful statements from people. Wine was the basic method for
extraction during ancient times, however, the first documented use of a truth
serum to solve a criminal case occurred in New York in 1903
Forerunners

◦ The Word Association Test

In a word association test, the researcher presents a series of words to
individual respondents. For each word, participants are instructed to respond
with the first word that comes to mind. Often its goal is to compare the first and
final word, to see if they relate, or to see how different they are, or also to see
how many words are repeated.
Forerunners

◦ Narco analysis or narco synthesis

This test involves the intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium
pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal) that causes the subject to enter into
various stages of anaesthesia. Which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in
which the subject's imagination is neutralized, and they are expected to divulge
true information.
Forerunners

◦ Intoxication
Intoxication is the term used to describe any change in perception, mood,
thinking processes and motor skills that results from the effect of a drug(s) on
our central nervous system
Intoxication at the time of the crime had no significant effect on polygraph
test outcomes, although it did affect anticipatory arousal before the crime and
subsequent memory for crime details.
Forerunners
◦The Physical Stress Evaluator (PSE)
Lie detection relies on one basic principle: an individual undergoing stress
willexhibit certain involuntary reactions caused by that stress. Stress may result from
any number of factors: an individual confronted by a masked gunman, a student
taking a difficult test or an attorney trying an important case will feel stress. So too
will a person will a person who is lying, particularly if the lie hides something of
importance.
This test of the effectiveness of the Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE), which
claims to detect signs of emotional stress in the human voice, in detecting
deception shows the PSE to be unreliable.
METHODS OF DETECTING DECEPTION
THROUGH REGULAR POLICE
WORKS
Methods of Detecting Deception Through
Regular Police Works
1. Information gathering- trying to establish rapport with the suspect and used positive
confrontation to obtain a confession, clearly explain the charge to the suspect.
2. Investigation- refers to the process of collecting information (or evidence) about a crime in
order to: 1 determine if a crime has been committed; (2) identify the perpetrator; (3) apprehend
the perpetrator and (4) provide evidence to support a conviction in court.
3. Instrumentation- the latest analytical instruments enable quick and high sensitivity analysis
required for the scientific criminal searches and studies. Whether working with drugs of abuse,
pharmacokinetics or trace residues from a crime scene, confidence in the analytical results is
critically important.
 INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT
USED FOR DIAGNOSING TRUTH AND
DECEPTION
Stoelting and Lafayette
Polygraph Instruments
A. Stoelting Instrument- Founded in 1886,
Stoelting Co, has furnished physiological
measurement instruments and psychological
test materials for over a century. Stoelting
invented the first modern polygraph in 1935,
and virtually every advance in polygraph
instruments since then has been by Stoelting.
Stoelting and Lafayette
Polygraph Instruments
◦ B. Lafayette instrument- This is the
world’s leading manufacturer of Polygraph
instrumentation and equipment, distributing
credibility assessment instruments to private
examiners, government and military
organizations around the world.
The C.H. Stoelting Instrument Company
Polygraphs
◦ Christian Hans Stoelting created Stoelting (originally called Chicago Laboratory Supply and
Scale Co.) in 1886 and quickly grew it into a successful supplier and producer of
physiological and psychological products.

◦ From 1903 to 1943, Stoelting was the principal producer of psychological assessments and
therapeutic products of the material culture of American psychology, with products that were
supplied globally.
The C.H. Stoelting Instrument Company
Polygraphs
◦ Stoelting Cardio-Pneumo polygraph
This instrument was manufactured in the early
1950's. It was a self contained, portable instrument,
weighing approximately 25 pounds. It was designed to
record accurately blood pressures and respiration on a six
inch graph which moved at a standard rate of speed. The
pens were made of stainless steel, which made them
practically a fool-proof recording pen because they were
non-corrosive. The motor operated directly on 120 volt, 60
cycle current. The instrument was very sensitive and it's
rugged construction offered many years of continued
service.
The C.H. Stoelting Instrument Company
Polygraphs
◦ Stoelting’s first deceptograph
Manufactured in the early 1950's, this was the first of Stoelting's
"Deceptograph“ line. It was a three-channel instrument consisting of a
pneumograph, a cardiograph, and a galvanometer. It weighed 40 pounds and
measured 22" long, 11" wide, and 14" high. It used jeweled bearings and
precious metal divots for all recording pens. Each pen was equipped with a
counterweight to delicately balance the pen over the paper. The kymograph
ran a 6" or 12" per minute, selectable by the examiner. It ran on both 120 volt,
60 cycle current or batteries.
The C.H. Stoelting Instrument Company
Polygraphs
◦ Emotional Stress Monitor
The Model #22608 was introduced in 1966. It was identical to the Model
#22600 with the exception of the second pneumographic module. It introduced a
kymograph with eight-inch paper. A real improvement over the six-inch paper
before. This simple but rugged instrument soon became the favorite of U.S.
Government examiners. This particular Stoelting 22608 was the primary
instrument of Terry R. Tanner. It has been equipped with ink loaded pens which
allowed an examiner to use these older model instruments well into the 1980's
by replacing the need for the messy community inking systems.
Lafayette Instrument Company
Lafayette Instrument Company produced its first lie detector (polygraph)
in the early 1950’s. The company's polygraph instrumentation is preferred by
polygraph examiners from the 90 countries using polygraphs. For the past
several years Ukraine has led European nations in the purchase of Lafayette
Instrument Company computerized polygraphs. The Lafayette Polygraph
System consists of a PC running Windows and its peripheral devices.You use
the PC and software to create and open polygraph files (PFs), enter and store
biographical and exam information, create and edit question templates, record
physiological data and print charts and reports.
Lafayette Instrument Company
Lafayette Instrument timeline
Max Wastl immigrated to the United States and studied Electrical Engineering at the
prestigious Purdue University. Using his education and experience as a guide, he established
Lafayette Instrument Company in 1947 with a single employee and a small shed. Over time, in
addition to physiological recording instrumentation and psychology testing, Lafayette began to
explore the sports and polygraph markets. With ongoing expansion came international attention,
and as a result, Campden Instruments was acquired in 1998 to be an extension and complement
to Lafayette's market leading product lines. In 2016, having seen a growing need for
scientifically-driven credibility assessment training, PEAK Credibility Assessment Training
Center was born.
Larson and Keeler
Polygraph Instruments
◦ John Larson Sphygmomanometer
Using his polygraph, John A. Larson was
the first person to measure and record
continuously and simultaneously the heart
rate, blood pressure and respiratory variations
of a person during an interrogation. His
polygraph was used extensively and very
successfully, in criminal investigations.
Larson and Keeler Polygraph Instruments
◦ Keeler Polygraph Instruments
Keeler’s instrument western electromechanical Co. - In 1924, Leonarde
Keeler’s first handmade polygraph instrument, he called "the Emotograph,"
The apparatus consisted of three units, one recording continuously and
quantitatively the blood pressure and pulse; another giving a duplicate blood
pressure pulse curve taken from some other part of the subject’s body and
may be utilized for recording muscular reflexes of the arm or leg; and the
third unit recording respiration. The paper, perforated on its edges, is drawn
by a sprocket feeder roll which is driven by a synchronous motor similar to
that used in electric clocks. A differential gear train provides for three speeds
and is easily shifted by the movement of a small lever. A ninety-foot roll or
paper supplies the recording chart, and the curves are recorded by means of
combined lever arm and fountain pen.
The Lee Psychograph/Berkeley Psychograph
◦ The 'Berkeley Psychograph', or other wise known as the 'Lee Polygraph' shown
here was first introduced in Chicago, Illinois in 1938. This instrument is the
improved model, which was developed by Captain LEE of the Berkeley
California Police Department.
◦ This instrument was designed to be a compact, portable unit which
encompasses a novel arrangement of rubber 'tambours' and a manually
operated stimulus key. Visible are the pens for recording respiration, blood
pressure, pulse and stimulus response changes.
The Lee Psychograph/Berkeley Psychograph
◦ The instrument includes a pressure cuff and hand bulb, along with a
pneumograph tube for recording respiration change. The major difference with
the Berkeley Psychograph in comparison to the earlier Keeler instruments was
that the Berkeley Psychograph incorporated a new design in the pulse-blood
pressure unit. Captain LEE was also the first to introduce the use of the guilt
complex control question, and the first 'Control Test', which was later re-
named the Pre-Test.
The Lee Psychograph/Berkeley Psychograph
◦ This type instrument was used primarily on juveniles during the 1930's, as the
conventional rules of evidence did not apply at this time. The 'Lee Polygraph'
was taken out of service around 1938, after Dr. BRIL, a criminologist from
New York City developed his own instrument, a "Brilograph', which measured
changes in skin resistance
The Darrow
Photopolygraph
◦ A polygraph created by C.W. Darrow
in the 1930s. It was one of the most
elaborate polygraphs of that era. This
apparatus gives a simultaneous
recording of blood pressure changes
(relative), pulse rate, respiration.
The Darrow Photopolygraph
◦ In the early 1930's, C.W. Darrow developed his Photopolygraph. Manufactured
by the C.H. Stoelting Company it retailed for $999. It had five channels;
pneumograph, cardiograph, galvanograph, a stimulus marker, and one
additional channel that could be used to record either an abdominal respiration,
a gastrointestinal balloon, a plethysmograph, or carotid or radial pulse.
◦ It’s recording system was unique in that all tracings are recording on
photographic paper. It was used by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at Lewisburg
and the Narcotic Farm in Kentucky.
 Reid and Backster Polygraph
◦ The Reid Polygraph
The Reid technique is a method of interrogation. The system was developed
in the United States by John E. Reid in the 1950s. Reid was a psychologist,
polygraph expert, and former Chicago police officer. The technique is known for
creating a high-pressure environment for the interviewee, followed by sympathy
and offers of understanding and help, but only if a confession is forthcoming.
Since its spread in the 1960s, it has been a mainstay of police procedure,
especially in the United States.
 Reid Polygraph
Proponents of the Reid technique say it is useful in extracting information from otherwise
unwilling suspects. Critics say the technique results in an unacceptably high rate of false
confessions, especially from juveniles and the mentally impaired. Criticism has also been
leveled in the opposite case - that against strong-willed interviewees, the technique causes them
to stop talking and give no information whatsoever, rather than elicit lies that can be checked
against for the guilty or exonerating details for the innocent.
Backster Polygraph
Grover Cleveland "Cleve" Backster Jr. (February 27, 1924 – June 24, 2013) was an
interrogation specialist for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), best known for his
experiments with plants using a polygraph instrument in the 1960s which led to his theory
of primary perception where he claimed that plants feel pain and have extrasensory
perception (ESP), which was widely reported in the media. This polygraph measures three
things: pulse, respiration rate and galvanic skin response, otherwise known as perspiration.
If you’re worried about being caught in a lie, your levels will spike or dip. Backster wanted
to induce a similar anxiety in the plant, so he decided to set one of its leaves on fire. But
before he could even get a match, the polygraph registered an intense reaction on the part of
the Dracaena. To Backster, the implication was as indisputable as it was unbelievable. Not
only had the plant demonstrated fear — it had also read his mind.
 Reid and Backster Polygraph
◦ The Cleve Backster Special by C.H. Stoelting Company
The components for this unique polygraph instrument are from a Stoelting Model #22500.
The case, made of plywood, was hand made for Cleve Backster by a cabinet maker in New
York around 1960. This is one of six such instruments that Cleve Backster used to test audience
reaction to television shows for a commercial advertising agency.
Cleve Backster reports that the six instruments were laid side by side in a 3 X 2 matrix and
used to record emotional responses of subjects as they watched commercials to judge their
effectiveness.