POLYGRAPHY

(The Scientific Method of Detecting Deception)

 ORIGIN OF THE WORD POLYGRAPHY

The word was derived from the word “POLY” which means “MANY” and
“GRAPHS” means “WRITING”. Which literally means.

“MANY WRITING”

The many writing will appear in the chart as a result of examination

and subject for analysis.
POLYGRAPHY

= The scientific method of detecting

deception with the aid or use of a
polygraph instrument.
 POLYGRAPH

= a delicately engineered scientific instrument

that simultaneously records the changes in
respiration, electrodermal activity and
cardiovascular activity.
Thomas Jefferson = first person known who used the
term Polygraph to described one of his inventions.
Polygraph examiners may use
conventional instruments, sometimes
referred to as “Analog instruments, or
computerized polygraph instruments.
D O P O LY G R A P H
DETECTS LIE?
I S A P O LY G R A P H
R E S U LT
ADMISSIBLE IN
THE PHILIPPINE
COURT?
 EARLY METHODS OF DETECTING DECEPTION

1. Trial by Combat = a method to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or

a confession, in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat.

2. Trial by Ordeal = a judicial practiced by which the guilt or innocence of the

accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually dangerous
experience or in the present term would mean an employment of “3rd degree”. The
word “ordeal” was derived from the Medieval Latin word “Dei Indicum” which
means “a miraculous decision”.
 TYPES OF ORDEAL
1. Ordeal of Heat and Fire = in this test the suspect walked a certain distance,
usually nine feet, over red-hot plowshares or holding a red-hot iron.

2. Ordeal of Hot Water = this test requires that the water had to be boiled, and
the depth from which the stone had to be retrieved was up to the wrist for one
accusation, and up to the elbow for three or more accusations.

3. Ordeal of Cold Water = this ordeal has a precedent in the Code of Ur-Nammu and the
Code of Hammurabi under which a man accused of sorcery was to be submerged in a
stream and acquitted if he survived.
= in 16th and 17th centuries, ordeal by water was associated with the
witch-hunts. Floating is an indication of witchcraft.
4. Ordeal of the Cross = the accuse and the accuser stood on either side of a cross and
stretched out their hands horizontally. The one to first lower his arms lost.

5. Ordeal of Rice Chewing/Ingestion = a method of detecting deception whereby an

accused will be required to take rice (to clergy bread or cheese).If the accused failed to
swallow even a single grain of concentrated rice he/she will be adjudged guilty.
6. The Test of the Axe = in Greece, a suspended axe was spine in the center
of a group of suspects, when the axe stopped, whosoever was in line with the
blade was supposed to be the guilty as pointed by divine providence.

7. The Test of the Candle = this ordeal was used in Burma, the accuser and
accused were each given identical candles and were lighted at the same time.
The candle that burns the longest determines which the truth.
REASONS WHY PEOPLE LIE?
REASONS WHY PEOPLE LIE?

1. Defense mechanism used to avoid trouble with

the law.

2. Not hurt some ones feeling

3. They lie because they gain from it.

4. To avoid embarrassing

5. For a good laugh or a joke.

 IMPORTANT PERSONS
IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF POLYGRAPH

Daniel Defoe = wrote and essay

entitled, “An Effectual Scheme for the
Preventing of Street Robberies and
Suppressing all other Disorders of the
Night”
Angelo Mosso = In 1878, science came
to the aid of the truth seeker through
the research of an Italian psychologist
Angelo Mosso. He made used of an
instrument called plethysmograph in
his research on emotion and fear and
its influence on the heart and
respiration.
Cesare Lombroso = In 1895, Cesare Lombroso, an Italian
Criminologist and tutor of Angelo Mosso, published the
second edition of his book entitled “L’Homme Criminel”
which he relates the used of Plethysmograph and
sphygmograph during interrogation of suspects. He called
it blood pressure pulse test.
= he is considered as the first person to conceive
the idea of lie detection and the first to apply the technique
in actual criminal suspects
Francis Galton = in 1879, introduced
the Word Association Test using
series of irrelevant questions and
relevant question separated in time.
B. Sticker = believed that the origin of the galvanic skin
phenomenon was under the influence of the exciting
mental impressions and that the will has no effect upon it.
= he made the earliest application of
psychogalvanometer to forensic problems.
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.
Vittorio Benussi = in March 1913, he
presented a paper before the second meeting
of the Italian Society for Psychology in Rome
where he described how he record the subject’s
breathing pattern using a Marey Pneumograph
which he noted the changes in inspiration-
expiration ratio during deception.
= he also included recording of heart
rate and blood pressure curve in detection of
deception and probably the first person to
record more than one physiological
response.
Dr. William M. Marston = in 1915 was
credited as the creator of the systolic
blood-pressure test used in an attempt
to detect deception during questioning,
and using a standard blood pressure
cuff and stethescope, requiring
repeated inflation of the pressure cuff
to obtain readings at intervals during
examination. This was called
Discontinuous Technique.
JOHN A. LARSON = encouraged by August Vollmer of
the Berkeley Police Department to conduct a research on
deception.
= Cardio-Pneumo Psychogram was Larson’s
first instrument which was borrowed from Dr. Robert
Jessel and was invented by Earl Bryant
= in 1921, Earl Bryant made an instrument for
Larson in which he used a breadboard as a base and
from that it became in the industry as Breadboard
Polygraph – capable of recording continually and
simultaneously the respiration and cardiovascular
activities.
= today he is known as the Father of Scientific
Lie Detection and at the same time the Father of
Polygraph
LEONARDE KEELER = in 1926, he made a modification of Larson’s instrument. He
developed that metal bellows and kymograph that pulled a chart paper at a constant
speed under recording pens from a roll of chart located inside the instrument.

= in 1938, 1938, Keeler included the Psychogalvanometer (PGR), a third

measuring component of his instrument which was also known as Galvanic Skin
Reflex (GSR) invented by Italian Physiologist Galvani in 1791.

= credited as the creator on Relevant-Irrelevant Technique.

= today Keeler is known as the Father of Modern Polygraphy.

Sir James Mackenzie = an English clinician and
cardiologist, constructed the Clinical Polygraph in
1892, an instrument to be used for medical
examinations with the capability to simultaneously
record undulated line tracings of the vascular pulses
(radial, venous and arterial), by way of a stylus onto a
revolving drum of smoked paper.

]
S. Veraguth = he is said to be the first person to use the term
Psychogalvanic Reflex. Veraguth was the first scientist to use the word
association test with galvanometer.
= in 1907, he described his observation on galvanic phenomena and
emotions that there was an ascending galvanometer curve during the
presentation of relevant stimuli versus the rest curve on non-crucial stimuli.
Harold Burtt = In 1918, Burtt suggested that the changes in
respiration were an indication of deception.

= He was able to determine that the changes in respiration were

of less value in the detection of deception than the changes in
blood pressure.
Ruckmick = in 1936, the term Psychogalvanic Reflex used by
Veraguth was repudiated by Ruckmick and proposed the term
Electrodermal Response.
John E. Reid = in 1950, he developed the Control Question which consist
of a known lie and incorporated it into the relevant/irrelevant technique.

= he developed a movement or activity sensor a means of

recording arm and leg movements.

= Reid also developed the silent answer test and guilt-complex

test to be administered to overly responsive examinee.
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),
Richard O. Arther = introduced the Arther II polygraph
instrument which contains a stimulus marker capable of recording
the beginning and ending of question and the moment the
examinee answered.

= credited as the creator of Stimulus Marker.

=developed an instrument with two Galvanic Skin

Resistance
Computerized Polygraph
Instrument = in 1992, the
polygraph made its official
entrance into the computer
age.
 TRIPOD FOUNDATION OF POLYGRAPHY

1. Psychological Leg Basic Premise = states that specific nervous system

component whose stimulation can thus be diagnosed are so stimulated by the
involuntary and emotional processes of the individual who is continuously
attempting concealment of deception especially if that individual has something
at stake and the prevailing circumstances lead him to believe that exposure to
deception is quite possible although undesirable.
2. Physiological Leg basic Premise = that among the
physiological responses that may be recorded are those that
automatically occur only following the stimulation of specific
nervous component system.
3. Mechanical Leg basic Premise = polygraph is capable of
making graphic record containing reliable information
regarding physiological responses of the subject.
 PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY OF LYING

The Central Nervous System (CNS) = is composed of the brain and the spinal
cord. All other nerve ways are within the peripheral nervous system which
separates into two: The Somatic Nervous System and the Autonomic
Nervous System.

1. Somatic Nervous System = is involved with voluntary comparative over

skeletal muscles
2. Autonomic Nervous System = involved those involuntary physiological
functions of the body and has considerable psychological impact as well.
 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. LYING – Refers to the uttering or conveying of falsehood or creating false or
misleading information to affect wrongfully the acts and opinion
of others.

7. 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.

8. SPECIFIC RESPONSE – This refers to any deviation from the normal tracing of
the subject as a result of the examination.
9. NORMAL TRACING – It is a tracing on the chart wherein the subject answered
the irrelevant question.

10.POLYGRAPH EXAMINER – Refers to a person who conducts and administers the

polygraph test.

11.CHART OR POLYGRAPHS – Refers to the composite records of pneumograph,

Galvanograph, and
cardiosphygmograph tracing
recorded from series of questions during the
polygraph examination.

12. SUBJECT – Refers to the person being examined whether a suspect/witness or

accused.
13. Chart Markings – Refers to the mark/s indicated by the
polygraph
examiner during the examination
based on the reactions produced by the
subject in order not to
mislead the
polygraph examiners in their interpretation
and that the result will not be
affected.

14. Countermeasure(CM) – This can be observed when the

examinee does
 TYPES OF LIE

1. BALD-FACED LIE – A bald-faced (or barefaced) lie is told when it is obvious

to all concerned that it is a lie.

2. 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.

3. EMERGENCY LIE - It is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be spoken.
3. 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.

4. JOCOSE LIE – Are lies that are meant in jest/joke and are
usually understood as such
by all present parties.
Malicious lie – a lie usually used to mislead or a
dishonesty
intended to obstruct justice.
(Perjury)

Red lie – a lie used to destroy the ideologies by means of

propaganda which is common in communist countries.
 TYPES OF LYIER

PROFESSIONAL LIAR – a person who is able to make

up a story and tell it in such was with false supporting
details to make listeners believe it true. ( Urban
Dictionary)

PATHOLOGICAL LIAR – a person who lies

compulsively. (Cannot distinguish right from wrong).
 PATHOLOGICAL LYING

(Mythomania or Pseudologia fantastica)

– The chronic behavior of compulsive or habitual lying.

 LEGAL ASPECT OF POLYGRAPH
Other Countries

U.S vs FRYE – The first case in lie detection. The supreme

court in year 1923
decided it was not
admissible as evidence.

U.S vs SOCKEL - The court reiterated its non admissibility

but if the party
stipulated then the result
of the lie detection test will be admissible.
The U.S court of appeals, eleventh circuit (by vote of 8 justices
and 4 against) has reverse the 1923 ban on polygraph evidence
and opened the door to the administration of the result of the
polygraph test.

The decision in U.S Picciononna discards FRYE as a rule and

sets procedure and limits on polygraph test admissibility.
 LEGAL ASPECT OF POLYGRAPH
(Philippine)

Polygraph evidence was first discussed by the supreme court in

1978 in People Vs Daniel. In this case he was guilty, the accused
submitted to the trial court the result of the polygraph test to show
that he was innocent of the crime of rape.
 LEGAL ASPECT OF POLYGRAPH
(Philippine)
People Vs. Adoviso

Pablo Adoviso was convicted of two counts of murder by

the regional trail court camarines sur. He was identified
by two witnesses as the perpetrators of the crimes.

Among the evidence offered was the testimony of a

polygraph examiner of the NBI who conducted a
polygraph test on Adoviso.
The polygraph examiner pronounce that Adoviso’s
polygraphs revealed that there were no specific response
of reaction indicative of deception to pertinent questions
relevant to the investigation of the crimes. Despite this
findings, the trial court found Adoviso guilty beyond
reasonable ground.
AYUR VIDA – A hindu book of science and health
around 500 B.C considered as an earliest known
reference to a method of detecting deception.
 TWO OTHER HINDU BOOKS

PHARMASASTRA OF GAUTAMA – ( Nature of lying ) – No guilt in

incurred in giving false evidence in the case the life of men depends
thereon.

VASISTHA OF PHARMASASTRS – (Justifying lying) – Men may

speak on untruth when lives are in danger or the loss of their
whole property is imminent.