Presented By:

PRINCESS CASTRO RODRIGUEZ, MSCJ

Instructor
This module will cover topics such as the
history and development of polygraphy or lie
detection; the main function of polygraph
results in investigations; related theories that
would elucidate the anatomy of deception and
the external signs that would be observed
during deception.
Lesson 3.1
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1.Define and understand the definition of

Polygraphy;
2.Familiarize with the timeline and
development of Modern Polygraphy; and
3.Identify the main function ad relevance of
Polygraph results towards investigation.
 Polygraphy defined
üscientific method of detecting deception with the use of
polygraph instrument.
üderived from two Greek words “Poly” which means many and
“Graphos” meaning writing.
ümost commonly known or called as Lie Detector which recognizes
the deceptiveness of a certain subject undergoing polygraph
examination through assessing the changes on the physiological
responses or indications of the subject.
üPolygraphy, also known as a Lie Detector, is a device or procedure
that measures and records a variety of physiological indicators
such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity
while a person is asked and answers a series of questions.
 Timeline of Modern Polygraph
The knowledge behind the development of modern polygraph was imparted
and contributed by the following numerous proponents and personalities;

1.Jacques D’Arsonval (June 8, 1851 – December 31, 1940)

ü He is a French scientist who asserted that electricity is generated within the

human body, this was referred to as External Friction.
ü He claimed that the sweat glands in the body store and discharge electricity at
different times.
ü His contributions aided in the development of the galvanometer.
ü He invented the moving-coil D'Arsonval galvanometer as well as the
thermocouple ammeter.
 2.Christian Hans Stoelting (1886)

ü Founded the Stoelting Corporation (originally called Chicago Laboratory Supply

and Scale Co.) in 1886 which became the leading product supplier on
physiological, psychological and psycho-physiological measurement.
ü He supplied apparatus specifically tailored to inent psychological laboratories
as early as 1895.
ü His first polygraph machine consists of a mechanical amplifier for detecting the
human heart's pulse and a recording apparatus (Kymograph) for recording the
signal of said pulse.
3.Angelo Mosso (30 May 1846 – 24 November 1910)
ü 19th-century Italian physiologist who developed the first neuroimaging
technique, known as "human circulation balance, this is regarded as the first
neuroimaging technique ever developed, serving as a forerunner to the more
refined techniques of fMRI and PET
ü He made an experiment in which he observed that a person’s breathing
pattern changed under certain stimuli and that in this change in turn cause
variations in their blood pressure and pulse rate; plethysmograph.
 4.James Mackenzie (12 April 1853 – 26 January 1925)
ü Scottish cardiologist and was a pioneer in the study of cardiac arrhythmias.
ü Developed the ink-writing polygraph, a tambour (a rubber diaphragm) is placed
over a vein in the neck, with while another one is placed on the arterial pulse in
the wrist. The movements of these vessels vibrate the diaphragms. These
transmit the waves through rubber tubing to two recording arms which record
the pulse as continuous lines on paper. It detected problems such as an irregular
heartbeat. Polygraphs were also used as lie detectors.
ü Physiologists found lying could cause physical changes such as a faster heartbeat
or increased sweating. Mackenzie’s polygraph measured and recorded these
changes.
5.Dr. Cesare Lombroso (6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909)
ü Employed the first scientific instrument to detect deception. This device for
measuring pulse rate and blood pressure is similar to the cardiosphygmograph
component of the contemporary polygraph.
ü Although he did not invent the hydrosphygmograph, Cesare Lombroso was accorded
the distinction of being the first person to have successfully used the instrument as a
means for distinguishing truthfulness from deception in crime suspects.
 6.George Sticker (1897)
ü Sticker made one of the earliest suggestions for applying psychogalvanic
reactions to forensic problems in 1897.. He theorized that the galvanic skin
phenomenon was influenced by existing mental impression.
7.Otto Veraguth ( May 13, 1870 - December 17, 1944)
ü He was the first to use the term “Psychogalvanic Skin Reflex”, an idea that the
electrical phenomenon was due to the activity of the sweat glands.
ü Veraguth was among the first to conduct word-association tests with the
galvanometer
ü Veraguth was the first to notice some of the galvanic phenomena that forensic
psychologists have only recently rediscovered.
ü He observed that emotional complexes revealed in word association experiments
produced an ascending galvanometer curve (as opposed to the "rest curve" of
non-crucial stimuli), and that these personally significant stimuli produced larger
fluctuations than indifferent stimuli.
 8.Vittorio Benussi (17 January 1878 – 24 November 1927)
ü Successfully detected deception with a pneumograph, an instrument that
graphically measures an examinees inhalation and exhalation and
demonstrated that changes in breathing patterns accompany deception.
ü Benussi studied optical illusions, visual and haptic perception, spatial
perception, and time perception extensively. He was also the creator of one
of the first lie detection tests.
ü Benussi was also credited with conducting extensive research into unconscious
mental phenomena such as dreams and the body's influence on mental
emotions, as well as mental analysis and hypnosis.
9.Dr. William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947)

ü He invented the discontinuous systolic blood pressure test, which became a

component of the modern polygraph.. Dr. Marston's technique involved taking
intermittent systolic blood pressure readings of a suspect during questioning with
a standard blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope in order to detect deception,
Charles Moulton (pen name).
 10.John A. Larson ( December 11, 1892 – October 1, 1965)

ü Canadian psychologist employed by the Berkeley Police Department, in

California, developed what many consider to be the original lie detector when
he added the item of respiration rate to that of blood pressure.
ü He was the first American police officer with a doctorate to use a polygraph in
a criminal investigation.
ü He named his instrument the polygraph — a word derived from the Greek
language meaning many writings — since it could read several physiological
responses at the same time and document these responses on a revolving
drum of smoked paper.
ü The first person to continually and simultaneously measure changes in a
subject's pulse rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate during an
interrogation.
 11.John E. Reid (1947)

ü A lawyer from Chicago, Illinois, developed the Control Question Technique

(CQT), a polygraph technique that incorporated control questions (comparison)
which were designed to be emotionally arousing for non-deceptive subjects
and less emotionally arousing for deceptive subjects than the relevant
questions previously used.
ü He contributed the Reid Technique method of interrogation; The technique is
known for putting the interviewee under intense pressure, followed by
sympathy and offers of understanding and assistance, but only if a confession is
forthcoming. It has been a mainstay of police procedure since its introduction
in the 1960s, particularly in the United States.
ü Proponents of the Reid technique claim it is effective at extracting information
from otherwise uncooperative suspects. Critics claim that the technique leads
to an unacceptably high rate of false confessions, particularly among juveniles
and the mentally ill.
 12.Leonarde Keeler (October 30, 1903 – September 20, 1949)
ü Gained firsthand experience in polygraph interrogations as a result of working with
John A. Larson at the Berkeley Police Department, worked to devise a polygraph
that used inked pens for recording the relative changes in a subject's blood pressure,
pulse rate and respiratory patterns.
ü 1926, the Keeler Polygraph came on the market as the new and improved lie
detector, an enhanced version of John A. Larson's polygraph.
ü 1938, Leonarde Keeler further refined the polygraph when he added a third
physiological measuring component for the detection of deception — the
psychogalvanometer — a component that measured changes in a subject's galvanic
skin resistance during questioning, and in doing so, thus signaling the birth of the
polygraph as we know it today.
ü Today, Leonarde Keeler is known as the father of polygraph.
ü 1948, Leonarde Keeler founded the world's first polygraph school — the Keeler
Polygraph Institute — in Chicago, Illinois.
ü 1980s-1988, research was conducted on computerized polygraph at the University
of Utah by Drs. John C. Kircher and David C. Raskin developed the Computer
Assisted Polygraph System (CAPS), which incorporated the first algorithm to be used
for evaluating physiological data collected for diagnostic purposes.
 12.Leonarde Keeler (October 30, 1903 – September 20, 1949)
ü 1992, the polygraph made its official entrance into the computer age.
ü 1993, statisticians Dr. Dale E. Olsen and John C. Harris at Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory, in Maryland, completed a software program called
PolyScore, which used a sophisticated mathematical algorithm to analyze the
polygraph data and to estimate a probability or degree of deception or truthfulness
in a subject.
ü 2003, PolyScore 5.1 Polygraph Software was developed by analyzing the data from
polygraph examinations administered in 1,411 real criminal cases provided by the
United States Department of Defence Polygraph Institute for study and comparison
purposes.
ü PolyScore is a computerized polygraph chart scoring algorithm that uses statistical
probability to arrive at truthfulness or deception. It has been shown that validated
algorithms have exceeded 98 per cent in their accuracy to quantify, analyze and
evaluate the physiological data collected from polygraph examinations administered
in real criminal cases.
Function of Polygraph Result to Investigation
ü The polygraph test is a solution to this quandary

ü Physiological indicators to determine an individual's honesty

ü “A physiological recorder that assesses three indicators of autonomic arousal:

heartrate/blood pressure, respiration, and skin conductivity is typically used to
conduct polygraph tests. It reveals that a person's heart rate/blood pressure,
respiration, and skin responses may provide clues as to whether or not they are
truthful or deceitful. Since these reactions are part of the autonomic system,
one may not be able to manipulate them. As a result, it appears that even if a
dishonest subject tries to conceal the truth, he or she may be unable to control
or manipulate his or her internal systems.
QUESTIONS