Polygraph

Polygraph
 Electrodermal activity (finger sweating)

 Blood pressure

 Respiration
 2 Types
 Guilty Knowledge Tests

 “Concern” Tests
 Concern Tests
Comparison Question Test (CQT)

1) Pre-interview Phase
Basic info
2) Guilty knowledge test
Increase faith in polygraph
3) Formulating the questions
 Concern Tests
4) Test proper
3 Times

5) Scoring & interpretation

 Questions
 Neutral

 Control (Probable lie)

 Relevant
 Neutral

Basic info

“What is your name?”

“Do you live in the United States?”
 Relevant Questions
 “Did you touch that child’s vagina?”

 NOT – “Did you sexually abuse that child?”

 “Did you take the money from the safe?”

 NOT – “Did you steal the money?”

Control Questions
Theory

Get the person to lie

Compare lies with

Relevant questions
 Control Question Theory

 Innocent Bigger reaction to control question

 Guilty Bigger reaction to relevant

 Control Questions
“As an adult, have you ever lied to anyone
who trusted you?”

“As an adult, have you ever taken anything

that did not belong to you?

“Prior to 2006, did you ever do anything

dishonest or illegal?”
 Successful Control Questions
 Upset the innocent more than relevant

 Upset the guilty less than relevant

 Bad Control Questions
Innocent

More worried about passing relevant than control

Will appear guilty

 Bad Control Questions

Upset Guilty More Than Relevant

Sexual Control Questions

“Did you ever do anything sexually that you

are ashamed up before 2007?”

Graves of murdered children in back yard

 Control Questions
Why Lie?

“Since this is a matter of theft, I need to ask you

some general questions about yourself in order
to assess your basic honesty and
trustworthiness. I need to make sure you have
never done anything of a similar nature in the
past and that you are not the type of person
who would do something like stealing that
camera and then would lie about it.”
(Raskin, 1989, p. 254)
 Scoring
PL1 to R1; PL2 to R 2, etc.

 No difference 0
Small difference 1
Medium difference 2
Big difference 3

If relevant question > probable lie then minus

 Scoring
 Small, medium & big Not standardized

 Each lead scored separately

 Leads summed for final score

 + 6 truthful; - 6 deceptive
 Problems
 How good is examiner?
Sell accuracy: calm innocent & worry guilty
Right probable lies
Score accurately
Detect countermeasures

 Unknown factors relating to probable lies

 Countermeasures
Guilty Knowledge Test
Give alternatives

Only info guilty would know

Physiological reaction
 Guilty Knowledge Test
 We know Susan Jones was murdered.

Was she shot?

Was she stabbed?
Was she hit on the head?
Was she beaten to death?
Was she strangled?
 Problems

 Serial criminals may not remember

Use of Polygraph with Sex Offenders

 Index Offense (Denial)

 Disclosure (History)
 Maintenance
 Monitoring
 Disclosures Without Polygraph

N = 26

Hands On Hands Off

Before Tx 54 0

After Tx 900 2000

(Van Wyk, 1995)
 Disclosures With Polygraph

N = 23

Hands On Hands Off

Before Tx 68 0

After Tx 4020 52,939

(Van Wyk, 1995)
 Average Number of Disclosures
Without Polygraph
N = 26

Hands On Hands Off

Before Tx 2 0

After Tx 35 77
(Van Wyk, 1995)
Average Number of Disclosures
With Polygraph

N = 23

Hands On Hands Off

Before Tx 3 0

After Tx 175 2,302

(Van Wyk, 1995)
Sexually Abused as Children?
No Future
Polygraph Polygraph

67% 29%

65% 32%

61% 30%
(Hindman & Peters, 2001)
Validity of Polygraph Field
Studies
 “Inconclusive” Decisions Deleted
 12 Studies
 2,174 Cases
 Results Confirmed by Confession
 Since 1980
(Ansley, 1997)
 Validity of Polygraph Field
Studies

No Deception Deception Totals

96% 98% 98%

(Ansley, 1997)
 Validity of Polygraph
Laboratory Studies

 41 Studies

 1,787 Simulation Examinations

 Validity of Polygraph
Laboratory Studies

No Deception Deception
Total

83% 75% 80%

(Ansley, 1997)
Guilty Knowledge Test
Different findings
Lab Studies

Innocent 83% correct

17% misclassified
(MacLauren, 2001)
Psychopathy and the
Polygraph
Excluding Inconclusives

96% Correct

(Raskin & Hare, 1978)

 Psychopaths & the Polygraph
Non
Psychopaths Psychopaths
Correct 22 17

Wrong 1 0

Inconclusive 1 7
(Raskin & Hare, 1978)
Duping Delight
 Problems to Avoid with
Polygraph

 Improper Preparation
 No Quality Assurance

 Lack of Taping

 No Disclosure Questionnaire

 Habituation

 Pre-Conviction Polygraphers
 Field Studies

N = 36

Between 83% & 89% guilty accurate

Between 53% & 75% of truthful accurate

(Vraij, 2007)
 Field Studies
Original Examiners Vs Independent Scores

Original
92% Guilty
92% Innocent
(Honts et al., 1988)
 Field Studies
Original Examiners

90% accuracy

Their Scoring 70% accuracy

Independent evaluators 55% accuracy

(Patrick & Iacono, 1991)

 Problems
 False confessions

 Those who passed don’t confess –

 Counter Measures
 Bite the tongue and press toes

70% of guilty innocent

 Rest inconclusive

 Not one guilty found guilty

(Honts, 1987)
 Floyd “Buzz” Fay
Falsely convicted of murder
Failed polygraph
Became expert
Trained 27 inmates – all guilty
20 minutes of instruction
23 beat polygraph
(Ford, 1995)
Guilty Knowledge Test
Lab Studies
Accuracy for Innocent

94% to 99%

1% to 6% guilty
(Vrij, 2007)
 Guilty Knowledge Test

Field Studies
Guilty Innocent
Elaad, 1990 42% 98%

Elaad et al., 1992 76% 94%