Lecture I

Introduction of the Course

Key Facts
Polygraphy as a course is highly technical. An in-depth understanding of the matter is requisite to
vividly recognize the use of each component of the machine in detecting deception applying the three (3) I's
(Information, Interrogation, and Instrumentation) of investigation.
Nowadays, due to the presence of highly technical instruments in the field of criminal investigations
and other forensic sciences, detecting deception is one of the subjects of the criminal investigators and
litigants in court to prove the guilt and/or innocence of the subject-accused but the machine is not adequate to
suffice in providing better results but rather, it is the operator's capability and competence to manipulate the
instruments to acquire substantial proof that the subject is lying. It is deemed essential to consider the main
factors that may provide constructive results from the examiner, examinee, and condition of the machine,
weather, and or environment where the examination is going to carry out.

What is Polygraph?
The term "POLYGRAPH" literally means “many writings". The name refers to how selected
physiological activities are simultaneously recorded. Polygraph examiners may use conventional instruments,
sometimes referred to as “Analog instruments, or computerized polygraph instruments.
It is important to understand what polygraph examinations require. A polygraph instrument will collect
physiological data from at least three (3) systems in the human body.

1. Convoluted rubber tubes are placed over the examinee's chest and abdominal area -this will record
respiratory activity,
2. Two (2) small metal plates, attached to the fingers-this will record sweat gland activity, and
3. A blood pressure cuff or similar device - will record cardiovascular activity.

A typical polygraph examination will include a period referred to as a pre-test, a chart collection phase,
and a test data analysis phase. In the pre-test, the polygraph examiner will complete the required paperwork
and talk with the examinees about the test. During this period, the examiner will discuss the questions to be
asked and familiarize the examinee with the testing procedure. During the chart collection phase, the
examiner will administer and collect several polygraph charts. Following this, the examiner will evaluate the
charts and render an opinion as to the truthfulness of the person taking the test. The examiner, when
appropriate, will offer the examinee an opportunity to explain physiological responses concerning one or
more questions asked during the actual test.
It is imperative to note that a polygraph does not include the analysis of physiology associated with
VOICE. Instruments that claim to record the voice stress are NOT polygraphs and have NOT been shown to
have scientific support.
For decades, the law enforcement community has used polygraph testing as an investigative aid to attain
the following:
1. Verify the statements of victims;
2. Establish the credibility of witnesses;
3. Evaluate the truthfulness of the suspects.

The following terminologies are hereby defined to establish the essentials of polygraphy.
A. Operational Terms in Polygraphy
1. Artifacts
 These are objects that appear in a chart made by human work during the examination of a
subject.
2. POLYGRAPH
 This is an instrument for the recording of changes in blood pressure; pulse rate, respiration,
and skin resistance as an indication of emotional disturbances especially of lying when
questioned. The word was derived from the word POLY means "many" and GRAPHS means
"writing chart". The many writings will appear in the chart as a result of examination and
subject for analysis.
3. REACTION
 This pertains to action in mental attitude evokes by external influence when a subject is
examined.
4. DECEPTION
 It refers to an act of deceiving or misleading usually accompanied by lying. This is observed
during the examination proceedings.
5. DETECTION
 It is an act of discovery of existence, presence of fact, or something hidden or obscure.
6. Distortion Tracing Segment
 This is a segment within the chart that departs from the average tracing segment but lacks
psychological evidence of automatic change due to physiological origin. This is also known as
Artifact.
7. LYING
 Refers to the uttering or conveying of falsehood or creating false or misleading information to
affect wrongfully the acts and opinion of others.
8. RESPONSE
 It refers to any activity or inhibition of the previous activity of an organism resulting from
stimulation. This can be given through sign language or body movement.
9. SPECIFIC RESPONSE
 This refers to any deviation from the normal tracing of the subject as a result of the
examination.
10. NORMAL TRACING
 It is a tracing on the chart wherein the subject answered the irrelevant question.
11. POLYGRAPH EXAMINER
 Refers to a person who conducts and administers the polygraph test.
 12. CHART OR POLYGRAPHS
 Refers to the composite records of pneumographs, Galvanograph, and cardiosphygmograph
tracings recorded from series of questions during the polygraph examination.
13. SUBJECT
 Refers to the person being examined whether a suspect/witness or accused.
14. CHART MARKINGS
 refers to the mark/s indicated by the polygraph examiner during the examination based on the
reactions produces by the subject in order not to mislead the polygraph examiners in their
interpretation and that the result will not be affected.
15. COUNTERMEASURE (CM)
 This can be observed when the examinee does something deliberately to affect the outcome of
the examination.

B. Historical Perspectives of deception and lying

a. History of Lying
i. The idea that lying produces physical side-effects has long been claimed. In Western Africa,
persons suspected of a crime were made to pass a bird's egg to one another. If a certain
person broke the egg, then he or she was considered guilty, based on the idea that
nervousness was to blame. In Ancient China, the suspect held a handful of rice in his or her
mouth during a prosecutor's speech. Since salivation was believed to cease at times during
emotional anxiety, the person was considered guilty if by the end of that speech the rice was
dry.
b. Early Methods of Detection Deception
i. Trial by Combat
ii. Trial by Ordeal
iii. Trial by Hot Iron Ordeal
iv. Ordeal by Balance
v. The ordeal of Rice Chewing
vi. Donkey's Tail Ordeal

C. Scientific Methods of Detecting Deception

A. The polygraph machine is used to test or question individuals to detect deception or verify the
truth of statements through a visual, permanent, and simultaneous recording of a person's
cardiovascular and respiratory pattern as a minimum instrumentation requirement.

B. A polygraph (commonly referred to as a lie detector) is an instrument that measures and records
several physiological responses such as:
i. blood pressure,
ii. pulse,
iii. respiration and
iv. skin conductivity - while the subject is asked to answer series of questions, on the basis that
false answers will produce distinctive measurements. The polygraph machine measures and
records physiological changes caused by the sympathetic nervous system during
questioning.
 C. Within the U.S. federal government, a polygraph examination is also referred to as a
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DETÈCTION OF DECEPTION (PDD) examination. Several
other technologies are also used in the field of lie detection, but the polygraph machine is the
most famous.
D. Contributors in the History of Polygraph.
1. ANGELO MOSSO - one of the well-known personalities behind the discovery of the polygraph
machine pursued in his studies of emotion and fear and its influence on the heart and respiration
with an instrument for measuring blood pressure and pulse change called a
PLETHYSMOSGRAPH.
On 30 of May 1846-24 November 1910, Angelo Mosso is the 19th-century Italian
physiologist who invented the first neuroimaging technique ever, known as 'human circulation
balance'.
He began by recording the pulsation of the human cortex in his patients with skull defects
following neurosurgical procedures. From his findings that these pulsations change during mental
activity, he inferred that during mental activities blood flow increases to the brain. Remarkably,
Mosso invented the 'human circulation balance', only recently rediscovered, to non-invasively
measure the redistribution of blood during emotional and intellectual activity also in healthy
subjects: this is therefore regarded as the first neuro imaging technique ever, forerunner of the more
refined techniques of FMRI, and PET. He was born in Turin, studied medicine there and in
Florence, Leipzig, and Paris, and was appointed professor of pharmacology (1876) and professor of
physiology (1879) at Turin. He invented various instruments to measure the pulse and experimented
and wrote upon the variation in the volume of the pulse during sleep, mental activity, or emotion.
In 1900-01 he visited the United States and embodied the results of his observations in
Democrazia nella religione e nella scienza: studi sull' America (1901).
In 1882 he founded with Emery the Archives Italiennes de Biologie, in which journal most of
his essays appeared. Among his other works are:
– Die Diagnostik Des Pulses (1879)
– Sulla Paura(1884)
– La paura (1891; English translation by E. Lough and F. Kiesow,Fear,London,1896)
– La fatica (1891; English translation by M. A. and W.B. Drummond, Fatigue, New
York,1904)
– La Temperatura Del Cervello (1894)

2. FRANK FRANKE
 For his contribution, He invented plethysmograph as part of a cardio application. The instrument
will measure the level of blood of a person when at rest.

3. CESARE LOMBROSO
 He is an Italian Criminologist who wrote "L Homme Criminel” in which he related his use of the
Plethysmograph and Sphymograph during the interrogation of criminal suspects. This is to
measure the degree of lying caused by internal activity especially when not answering.

4. FRANCIS GALTON
 He developed a much-acclaimed psychological test in 1879 whereby a patient is presented with a
group of words sufficiently separated in time to allow the patient to utter his first thought
generated by each word. This is called Word-Association Test or WAT.
  Francis Galton was born on February 16, near Spark brook, Birmingham, England, and was a
cousin British naturalist Charles Darwin, sharing the common grand parent Erasmus Darwin. His
father was Samuel Tertius Galton, son of Samuel “John” Galton.

5. HUGO MUSTERNBER
 He suggested the forensic application of the word association technique in detecting deception.
Hugo Münsterberg was a German-American psychologist. He was one of the pioneers in applied
psychology, extending his research and theories to industrial/organizational, legal, medical,
clinical, educational, and business settings. Münsterberg encountered immense turmoil with the
outbreak of the First World War. Torn between his loyalty to the United States and his
homeland, he often defended Germany's actions, attracting highly contrasting reactions.

6. ARTHUR BRUCE MCDONALD

 He proposed a federal laboratory to study criminals and suggested the use of apparatus
containing all elements of modern polygraph to test a suspect.

7. VITTORIO BENUSSI
 He presented a paper in March 1913 on the subject of his experiment regarding respiratory
symptoms of lying.
 In his work, Benussi conducted numerous studies on optical illusions, visual and haptic
perception, spatial perception, as well as the perception of time. He also developed one of the
first lie detection tests.

8. DR. WILLIAM M. MARSTON

 He devised the systolic blood pressure deception test in 1915. William Moulton Marston, also
known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist, inventor of an early
prototype of the lie detector, self-help author, and comic book writer who created the character
Wonder Woman. Two women, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and their polyamorous life
partner, Olive Byrne, greatly influenced Wonder Woman's creation. He was inducted into the
Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.

9. DR. JOHN A. LARSON

 He developed an instrument that continually and simultaneously measured blood pressure and
respiration. John Augustus Larson was a Police Officer for Berkeley, California, United States,
and famous for his invention of modern polygraphs used in forensic investigations. He was the
first American police officer to have an academic doctorate and to use the polygraph in criminal
investigations. After a famed career in the criminal investigation, he died of a heart attack in
Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 72.

10. LEONARDE KEELER

 He developed an improvement of Larson's apparatus. Leonarde Keeler was the co-inventor of the
polygraph machine. He was named after the polymath Leonardo da Vinci, and preferred to be
called 'Nard.' He was a Berkeley high school student and amateur magician. He was captivated
by John Larson's machine-his so-called 'cardio-pneumo psychogram,' capable of detecting
deception, and worked on it to produce the modern polygraph. AMERICAN POLYGRAPH
EXPERT.

11. JOHN E. REID

  He developed the review control question consisting of a known lie incorporate into relevant/
irrelevant test. The Reid technique is a method of questioning suspects that were developed in
the 1950s in the United States by John E. Reid, an American consultant, and polygraph expert
who was a former Chicago police officer. Supporters argue that the Reid technique, a
psychological method, is useful in extracting information from otherwise unwilling suspects. But
critics have found that the technique can elicit an unacceptably high rate of false confessions
from innocent people, especially juveniles.

12. CLEVE BACKSTER

 He developed the Backster Zone Comparison and a quantification system of chart analysis.
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 the extrasensory perception (ESP), which was widely
reported in the media but was rejected by the scientific community.

13. RICHARD ARTHER

 The First Polygraphist to record simultaneously on regular basis the chest and abdominal
breathing patterns during the polygraph examination.

E. People behind the introduction of the Polygraph machine during the early years.
1. 1895 - Cesare Lombroso, an Italian Scientist, employed the first scientific instrument to detect
deception - HYDROSPHYMOGRAPH, which measured changes in pulse and blood pressure
when suspects are questioned about their involvement in a specific offense.
2. 1914-VITTORIO BENUSSI, He successfully detected deception with a PNEUMOGRAPH - this
an instrument that graphically measures an examinee's inhalation and exhalation. Benussi thus
demonstrated that changes in breathing patterns accompany deception.
3. 1915 - Makenzie wrote a second paper on the concept when finishing his undergraduate studies.
He entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1918, re-publishing his earlier work in 1917.
According to their son, Marston's wife, Elizabeth' Holloway Marston, was also involved in the
development of the systolic blood-pressure test: " According to Marston's son, it was his mother
Elizabeth, Marston's wife, who suggested to him that 'When she got mad or excited, her blood
pressure seemed to climb (Lamb, 2001). Although Elizabeth is not listed as Marston's collaborator
in his early work, Lamb, Matte (1996), and others refer directly and indirectly to Elizabeth's work
on her husband's deception research. She also appears in a picture taken in his polygraph
laboratory in the 1920ŝ (reproduced in Marston, 1938)."
The comic book character, called by William Marston as Wonder Woman (and influenced
by Elizabeth Marston carries a magic lasso) which was modeled upon the systolic blood-pressure
test.
Marston then was the Self-proclaimed "Father of the Polygraph" despite his predecessor's
contributions. Marston remained the device's primary advocate, lobbying for its use in courts. In
1938, He published a book, “The Lie Detector Test," where he documented the theory and used
the device. In 1938, he appeared in advertising by the Gillette Company claiming that the
polygraph showed Gillette razors were better than the competition.
4. 1917 - Further research made by WILLIAM MARSTON during this year dealt with the
SPHYGMOMANOMETER, which was used to obtain periodic discontinuous blood pressure
readings during the examination.
5. 1920-A simple device recording both blood-pressure and galvanic skinresponse was invented in
1920 by Dr. John A. Larson of the University of California and first applied in law enforcement
work by the Berkeley Police Department under its nationally renowned police chief August
Vollmer
Further, work on this device was done by Leonarde Keeler. In 1906, the term “polygraph"
was first used by James MacKenzie in his invention of the “Ink Polygraph," which was also used
for medical reasons.
6. CARDIOSPHYGMOGRAPH-CESARE LOMBROSO-He was accorded as the first person who
utilizes an instrument in detecting deception.
His basis in detecting deception is by measuring the blood pressure and pulse rate. This is
known as HYDROSPHYGMOGRAPH
 ANGELO MOSSO-he stated that FEAR influenced the heart and could be used as a basis
for detecting deception. He uses a sphygmomanometer and scientific radio to study fear
 DR. WILLIAM MARSTON- he conducted numerous tests for detecting deception and
utilizes the change in systolic pressure to determine deception.
 Marston also developed his method of reading systolic blood pressure. He is known as the
“Self-proclaim Father of Polygraph”
 JOHN A.LARSON-the real “Father of lie detection"
The present polygraph machine is attributed to Larson. He developed and study to
record at the same time the responses of the blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration of
the subject.

7. GALVANOGRAPH COMPONENT
 STICKER
- He introduced the method of detecting deception from the galvanic impression on the
chart tracing.
 VERGUTH
- He used the word PSYCHOGALVANIC reflex. He believed that electrical phenomena
are due to the activity of sweat glands, and such activity is known as “psychogalvanic”.

8. PNEUMOGRAPH COMPONENT
 VITTORIO BENUSSI
- noted changes in inhalation ratio during indications of deceptions.
 LEONARD KEELER
- he devised a metal recording bellows; rolled chart paper.
 Lecture II
Origin and Classification of Lies

Key Facts
The Lie detection in the early period and even today must be noted that it is an assessment of a
verbal statement to reveal possible intentional deceit or lying when examining a subject or
examinee.
 That Lie detection may refer to a cognitive process of detecting deception to a subject by evaluating
message content as well as non-verbal responses by the subject during the interview.
 It may also refer to questioning techniques used by examiners along with technology that records
physiological functions to ascertain truth and falsehood in response to any question concerning the
offense and his/her alleged involvement.
 This technique in lie detection is commonly used by law enforcement agencies in the United States,
but rarely in other countries, and has historically been an inexact science.
 The polygraph is the most common and long-used measure in the United States of America.
Polygraphists added that the result applies only to specific events and not to screening, where it is
assumed that the polygraph works less especially when examiners are not so equipped with training.

A. Kinds of Lie/Classifications of Lie

a. Bald-Faced lie
- A bald-faced (or barefaced) lie is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie.

Example: A child who has a mango stain all over his face and denies that he has eaten any
fruit, is a bald-faced liar.

b. Lying by omission
- One lies by omission or by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person
with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing
misconceptions.

Example: You are aware that your officemate is stealing office items

c. Lie-to-children
- A lie-to-children is often a platitude that may use the euphemism, that is told to make an
adult subject acceptable to children.

Example: The police officer will get you if you will cry.

d. White lie
- A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar,
the hearer, or both. This is to avoid the harmful consequences and realistic implications of
the truth

Example: Telling someone that their new outfit looks good when you think that it is a
horrible excuse for an outfit.
 e. Noble Lie
- A noble lie would normally cause discord it if were uncovered, but that offers some benefit to the liar
and perhaps assist in an orderly society and thus potentially gives some benefit to others also. A noble
lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power. It is often told to maintain law, order, and
safety.

Example: Claiming that someone is generous or a place is peaceful even if it is not.

f. Emergency Lie
- It is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be spoken.

Example: A student might lie to his classmate about his allowance to avoid getting into a bar. Or his
answer in an examination to elude giving the answer

g. Perjury
- It is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation
in a court of law or any of various sworn statements in writing.
- Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court,
witness testimony must be relied on a being truthful.
- This is further defined in the Revised Penal Code particularly on Section 118,which states that "Every
person who, having taken an oath that he/she will testify, declare, deposed, or certify truly before any
competent tribunal, officer, or a person in any of the cases in which such an oath may by law be
administered, willfully, and contrary to such oath, states as true any material matter which he knows to
be false is guilty of perjury”.
- Also, perjury is defined as " a criminal act that occurs when a person lies or makes a statement that is
not truthful while under oath".

Example: Declaring in an honorable court that he/she tells the truth, but all information given is purely
inappropriate and purely false accusations.

h. Bluffing
- Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of
a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the pretentious players.

Example: Someone who is in his best outfit assuming to be the manager of the company.
: A talkative person seems to be intelligent.

i. Misleading
- A misleading statement is one where there isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making
someone believe in an untruth.

Example: A person giving distorted information to law enforcers about the nature of his work.
 j. Dissembling
- This refers to a polite term for lying, though some might consider it to refer to being merely misleading
and considered to be a euphemism for lying.

Example: (yes sir, I'm telling the truth though it's not)

Note: Similar to the act of misleading

k. Exaggeration
- This occurs when the most fundamental aspect of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is
not correct.

Example: There is additional information in the given statement

l. Jocose Lie
- Are lies that are meant in jest/joke and are usually understood as such by all present parties.

Example: telling stories employing a joke or sarcasm

m. Promotion Lies
- Advertisements often contain statements that are not credible.

Example: The company claimed that "we are always happy to give a refund." Or “we care so much
about our employees".

n. Belief Systems
- It is alleged that some belief systems may find lying to be justified.

Example: Religious lies where one is believed to have spiritual healing from trees/water.

B. Augustine's Taxonomy of Lies

a. Lies in Religious Teaching.
b. Lies that harm others and help no one.
c. Lies that harm others and help someone.
d. Lies told for the pleasure of lying
e. Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse”.
f. Lies that harm no one and that help someone.
g. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life.
h. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's purity.
 C. Reasons Why People Lie

This will prove the saying that " no one is perfect”. Lying even started based on the history told by the
ancestors who lived and witnessed how deception was done and performed. It’s an odious deed but it continued
until some learned that doing so will make someone free from punishment.

a. Lying in the bible

The Hebrew midwives lied to the king of Egypt rather than carry out his order to kill all male Hebrew
babies; the midwives did this because they “feared God". (Exodus 1:15-20)

Rehab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Joshua 2:4-5) and was not killed by
those who were disobedient because of her faith'(Hebrews 11:13)

Delilah repeatedly accused Samson of lying to her (Jg.16:10-13) as she interrogated him about the
source of his strength.

Abraham instructs his wife, Sarai, to lie to the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen 12:10),
which leads to the Lord punishing the Egyptians (Gen 12:17-19).

D. Consequences of Lying
a. Discovered
- discovery of a lie tends to discredit other statements by the same speaker and can lead to social and legal
sanctions against the utterer.

b. Remain Undiscovered
- undiscovered lie is a latent danger to the liar who is probably aware that it may be discovered.

E. Common Representations of Lying

It is observed in the Filipino culture that superstitions are so intense by trying to connect each physical and
external sign. Below are some of the examples where lying is seen to a person.
a. Carlo Collodi's PINOCCHIO
- is a wooden puppet often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. His nose grows with every lie. A long
nose has thus become a caricature of liars. ( Big Nose)

b. In the film LIAR LIAR

- the lawyer Fletcher Reed (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours due to a wish of his son which magically
came true. (anything will appear)

c. In 1985 MAX HEADROOM

- the title character comments that one can always tell when a politician lies because 'their lips move".
The joke has been widely repeated and rephrased. (uncontrollable Movement of Lips)

d. In the film BIG FAT LIAR

- the story with producer Marty Wolf, a notorious and proud liar himself. Each lie he tells causes him to
grow in size. (Big Fat Body)
Polygraphy in the Past
In the history of men, determining lies were done by the Datu's and respected elders in the community
when somebody was identified as doing wrong and refuses to accept the allegations including those who defy
orders though it was unwritten. By merely looking into the eyes, body movements, and lips of the suspected
individuals, the leader can immediately come up with a decision. There came out the different methods of
detecting deception including ordeal, and later a machine to aid the investigators.
A. History of Polygraph
 The experts who thought and developed that a polygraph instrument usually measures four to six
physiological reactions recorded by three different medical instruments are combined in one machine. Older
polygraph machines were equipped with long strips of paper that moved slowly beneath pens that recorded
the various physiological responses. Newer equipment uses transducers to convert the information to digital
signals that can be stored on computers and analyzed using sophisticated mathematical algorithms.
 The parts were identified and their usage including the methods of application and presentation.
 Development of Cardiosphygmorgaph Component
o CARDIO-SPHYGMOGRAPH
- the Blood pressure and heart rate are measured by the cardio-sphygmograph component of the
polygraph, which consists of a blood pressure cuff that is wrapped around the subject's arm.
During the questioning, the cuff remains inflated.
- The movement of blood through the subject's veins generates a sound that is transmitted
through the air in the cuff to a bellows that amplifies the sound. The magnitude of the sound
relates to the blood pressure and the frequency of the changes in the sound relates to the heart
rate.

 Development of Pneumograph Component

o PNEUMOGRAPH COMPONENT
- The pneumograph component of the polygraph records the subject's respiratory rate. One tube
is placed around the subject's chest and a second is placed around his or her abdomen. These
tubes are filled with air. When the subject breaths, changes in the air pressure in the tubes are
recorded on the polygraph.

 Development of Galvanograph Component

o GALVANOGRAPH
- The galvanograph section records the amount of perspiration produced.
- It consists of electrical sensors called galvanometers that are attached to the subject's fingertips.
The skin of the fingertips contains a high density of sweat glands, making them a good location
to measure perspiration.

 Modern Polygraphy
o COMPUTERIZED POLYGRAPH
- in the Philippines today, training and instruments are provided by Truth Verifier and Eyespy
for investigation and educational demonstration purposes
 o POLYGRAPHY
- The science of Lie Detection is now part of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) activity
in every crime laboratory in the collection of information as a shred of evidence in aid of
investigation.
 Basic Uses of the Polygraph
o Specific Case
o Paired Testing
o Periodic Clearance
o Pre-Employment
The Examination Room

When conducting an examination, the room is one essential factor that leads to the smooth execution
of the test and that the following MUST be considered;

1. The room must be private and free from all outside noise and detracting influences.
2. Adequately lighted and well ventilated
3. Devoid of pictures, paintings, decors, or other ornaments.
4. Preferably sound-proof
5. Without any furniture other than a polygraph desk and chair.
6. Subject’s chair with armrest and an examiner's stool.
7. With a one-way mirror and remote sound system for monitoring the test proceedings to an authorized
audience.

The Polygraph Examiner

One important personality in the conduct of polygraph tests is the presence ofa competent,
knowledgeable, and honest examiner who MUST possess the following;

 TECHNICALLY, he must have complete knowledge of the instrument and its capabilities and limitations.
 MORALLY-he must maintain high personal integrity and increasing personal proficiency through constant
study and research.
 He constantly bears in mind his primary obligation to his subject that is to afford them all possible
safeguards against error and must not accept any subject whose physical or mental health or state makes
him unfit.
 He is an impartial seeker of truth.
 Never allow his personal feelings, sympathies, or prejudices to influence the results of the examination.

Selection of Test Subject

In the administration of polygraph examination, the condition of the subject is also an important
factor to get good results of the test.

 Permanent physical illnesses such as mental derangement, a certain heart condition, breathing disorder, and
addiction to narcotic drugs are definite causes that make a person unfit for a polygraph test.
 Temporary illness and conditions such as sickness, injury, pain, physical discomfort, external physical or
mental fatigue, colds, coughs, fever, allergies, and influences of sedatives and liquor are causes for
deferment of the test until such time that the subject regains his ordinary physical condition.
 Treatment of the subject before being asked to make or while awaiting a test affectsthe success of the
examination.
 Prolonged interrogation with constant accusation directed against the subject may condition him to react
falsely to the test or may result in a flat emotionless chart.
 A person's daily habit should not be upset more than necessary. The long delay should be avoided.
Psychological and Physiological Aspects of Lying
The indications of any of the signs when a person is lying manifest the presence of guilt These may be observed
as;
 WEATING
- the subject may experience this and be accompanied with a flushed face indicating anger, embarrassment, or
extreme nervousness. Sweating with a paled face may indicate a shock of fear. Sweating hands indicate tension.

 COLOR CHANGE
- this may be seen if the subject's face is flushed, it may indicate anger, embarrassment, or shame. Á pale face is a
more common sign of guilt.

 DRYNESS OF THE MOUTH

- the subject's nervous tension causes reflex inhibition of salivary secretion and consequently dryness of the mouth.
This causes continuous swallowing and licking of the lips.

 Excessive activity of Adam's apple

- the examiner may notice the subject on account of the dryness of the throat aside from the mouth, the subject will
swallow saliva from the mouth and this causes the frequent upward and downward movement of Adam's apple.

 Fidgeting
- during the examination, the subject is constantly moving about in the chair, pulling his ears, rubbing his face,
picking and tweaking the nose, crossing or uncrossing the legs, rubbing the hair, eyes, eyebrows, biting or
snapping of fingernails. These are indicators of nervous tension.

 Peculiar Feeling Inside

- the subject will not be at ease because there is a sensation of lightness of the head and the subject is confused. This
is the result of his troubled conscience.

 Swearing to the truthfulness of his assertion

- as observed, usually a guilty subject frequently utters such expression. "believe me I am telling the truth” or “you
can kill me if I am lying", "Cross my heart"...etc. Such expressions are given to make forceful and convincing his
assertion of innocence.

 Spotless record
- the subject may assert that it is not possible for him to do “anything like that" in as much as he is a religious man
and that he has a spotless record or no record of involvement in illegal activities as a Church leader or Pastor.

 Inability to look at the investigator "straight in the eye"

- the subject does not like to look at the investigator for fear that his guilt may be seen in his eyes. He will rather
look at the floor or ceiling.

 "Not that I remember" expression

- the subject will resort to the use of "Not that I Remember" or "not that I do not know" expression when answering
to be evasive or to avoid committing something prejudicial to him.
LIE or Giving of Dishonesty answer
Explaining and reasoning out, digressing an answer, confusing anyone, muddling, and fumbling of statements
are all considered as confirmations and avowals of false testimonies. To fully understand what is Lie, below are some
common terms used.
 In layman’s word, Lie is also called PREVARICATION
 It is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement to deceive, often with further intention to maintain a
secret or reputation, to protect someone’s feelings from getting hurt, or to avoid punishment.
 It is an act of giving a malicious and nasty statement.
 It may come as an untruthful confession during the conversations.