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POLYGRAPH TESTING.
Term Paper ID:28897
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Essay Subject:
Discusses its usage as an investigative tool. History, concepts, pros & cons of testing, validity & reliability. Reviews studies & surveys police officers. 1 Figure.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses its usage as an investigative tool. History, concepts, pros & cons of testing, validity & reliability. Reviews studies & surveys police officers. 1 Figure.
Paper Introduction:
POLYGRAPH TESTING: THE ACHILLES HEEL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Introduction: Statement of the Problem
The use of polygraph testing is widespread in the United States. Elements of the criminal justice system at all levels, private sector employers, and various governmental agencies conduct polygraph testing in a broad spectrum of situations. The objective of polygraph testing in all of these situations, however, is the determination of the truthfulness of statements made by individuals concerning their own actions or their knowledge of events (Ghannam, 2000). If this narrative were the end of the story, the polygraph problem would not exist. Unfortunately, however, polygraph testing is the subject of long-standing and acrimonious disputes concerning its validity (Chapman & Lopresti, 2000).
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This situation means that the standards for interpretingphysiological responses tend to vary (1) from case to case for a singlepolygraph examiner and (2) among polygraph examiners (Henseler, 1997). Nevertheless, the role of the polygraph examiner in polygraph testingis crucial. 691,695, N.D. Rather, a polygraph test examiner testifies asan expert as to both the results and the meaning of the results ofpolygraph testing (Henseler, 1997). Thus, each polygraph examiner assesses each set of data within thecontext of (1) her or his own experience with polygraph testing and (2) heror his evaluation of the unique circumstances of each polygraph testingsituation. can beestablished based on available scientific evidence," but that polygraphs"detect deception better than chance, but with error rates that could beconsidered significant" (pp. Theblood pressure cuff attaches to a person's upper arm to record changes inblood pressure. Unfortunately, it is harmful because it generates a large number of false-positive test results that may incriminate people who are telling the truth. Thescoring parameters used in computerized scoring are nothing more than thesubjective evaluations of the developers of the computerized scoringprocess (Gallai, 1999).The Reliability of Polygraph Testing Some critics of the assumptions underlying polygraph testing questionthe assumption that individuals produce different physiological responseswhen they are being untruthful. 1199, 12 5, C.D.Cal. Supp. 1998) A study by Phillips (1999) found that the polygraph detected thoselying at little better than the rate predicted by chance alone. The polygraph test would detect 54 subversives where only 5 are present, "a bias against the innocent of morethan 1 to 1" (Lehrer, 1998, p. Scheffer, 118 S.Ct. Similarly, a lack of care by a polygraphexaminer in preparing for and administering a polygraph test also lead tohigher frequencies of faulty polygraph testing results (Gallai, 1999).Conceptual Approaches in the Administration of Polygraph Testing While there exist several conceptual approaches for the administrationof polygraph tests, three approaches predominate application of polygraphtesting in criminal justice environments. The assumption underling the CQ approach to polygraph testing is thatthe comparative physiological responses to control and relevant questionswill differ between truthful and untruthful subjects. The UnitedStates Supreme Court rejected the test outcomes of the administration ofthis instrument for use as evidence in criminal cases. The pneumaticchest tube, strapped around the chest of a subject, measures alterations inbreathing patterns. Hypothesis An important question confronting the criminal justice communityconcerning the polygraph test is whether the perceived value of theprocedure within the criminal justice community justifies the potentialloss in public confidence in the criminal justice system attributable topublic perceptions that the procedure is (1) fallible and (2) frequentlyabused by police. Lie detectors in employment.Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review, 23, 85-86. The assumption isthat (1) the magnitude of the physiological responses of a truthful subjectwill be similar (not identical) to both relevant and irrelevant questions,while (2) the magnitude of the physiological responses of an untruthfulsubject to relevant questions will be observably greater than the magnitudeof such responses to irrelevant questions. While the federallaw, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) does not directly affectthe use of polygraph testing in criminal justice environments, therejection of the reliability of polygraph testing as one reason forenacting the EPPA casts a long shadow. The increasedmagnitude of the physiological response to pain when responding to acontrol question will distort the difference between subject responses tocontrol and relevant questions posed by the polygraph test examiner.Subjects require only minimal training or practice to be able to generatephysiological responses that will cause a polygraph examiner to recordfalse negatives (Henseler, 1997) As indicated above, cultural variations among subjects also hold thepotential to distort comparisons physiological reactions to control andrelevant questions posed by a polygraph test examiner. As long as policeuse polygraph testing as an investigative tool with not attempt tomanipulate the test results to produce desired outcomes, and as long as theuse of the polygraph test is supplementary to more verifiable investigativetechniques, police likely will not lose public support for theirinvestigative efforts. The polygraph test examinerdirects subjects to make false denials to control questions. The evaluation may indicate truth,deception, or uncertainty (Henseler, 1997). Test examiner qualifications are of major importance to the issue ofthe reliability of polygraph testing. (Gallai, 1999, p. A subject who is truthfulshould produce similar, but not identical, responses to both relevant andirrelevant questions (McCall, 1996). 3). Buchanan, B. 691,695, N.D. Inadequate examiner training leads to higher frequencies offaulty polygraph testing results. 1199, 12 5, C.D. Problems with the Polygraph. Theassumption that polygraph examiners are capable of making suchdeterminations with any degree of accuracy is itself questionable(Henseler, 1997). 1294)? The United States Supreme Court questioned the validity of polygraphtesting. New York: Guilford. An older study conducted by the Congressional Office of TechnologyAssessment (1983) concluded that "no overall measure of validity ... (1999, March). Skeptical Inquirer, 24(1), 58-59. Your rights in theworkplace. Thus, if theperceptions of the importance of control questions by subjects andpolygraph test examiners differ substantially, the reliability of thepolygraph testing procedure deteriorates (Henseler, 1997). Polygraphs andSecurity: A Study by a Subpanel of Sandia's Senior Scientists andEngineers. In addition to the major problem of subjective interpretation, thereis the problem associated with variations in subject behaviors. The polygraph as a truth detector. Supp. In R. 3 9) Honts (1996) argues strongly on the basis of the results of laboratorystudies that polygraph tests are valid. The nature of the polygraph exam will not allow for an accurate error rate to be identified and we should not expect to attain any less varied results when it comes to the accuracy of such exams. American Criminal Law Review, 36, 87-97. Other critics of polygraph testing contend that allowing theintroduction of the results such tests as evidence into criminal trialswill result in determinations of guilt or innocence based on probability.These critics contend further that an even an 8 percent or a 9 percentprobability is insufficient for criminal convictions. Pitner, 969F. The criminal justice community remainsunited, however, on the question of the value of polygraph testing as aninvestigating tool (Harris, 2 1). If aninterrogator flipped a coin, with heads for liars and tails for truth-tellers, then the results would be about the same as with a polygraph.Phillips (1999) stated that: If the polygraph were merely useless, it would not be so bad. (1996, October). Well overone-half of all major corporations, commercial banks, and retailersadministered polygraph tests to job applicants and, on a random basis, tocurrent employees (Drake & Moskowitz, 1997). In simple terms, if a polygraph is 9 % accurate, and is offered as inculpatory evidence in ten cases, ten different juries would likely bring back ten individual convictions based on the fact that there is a 9 % chance of accuracy. The galvanic skin response indicator consists of two electrodesthat attach to the index and second fingers of one hand. It such situations the quality of a polygraph examiner'sjudgment is of little value Gallai, 1999). Most ofthe subsequent research questioned the reliability of polygraph testing.The scientific community generally remains skeptical about the reliabilityof polygraph testing (Giannelli & Imwinkelried, 2 ). The interpretation of the meaning of the responses measured bythe polygraph instrument however tend to be more subjective than objective. Suppose 1 people were screened, and 5 of them were liars. Research Methodology The methodology for this study is a combination of an extensiveliterature review and a limited survey of serving police officers. Pitner, 969 F. In this context, the UnitedStates Appeals Court, Eighth District, ruled that: "When polygraph evidenceis offered in evidence at trial, it is likely to be shrouded with an auraof near infallibility, akin to the ancient oracle of Delphi" (United Statesv. Trial lawyers and civil libertarians tendto oppose polygraph testing with equal force. 1295). 4-5). Thedevelopment of such information occurs through the conduct of court trials,intensive police investigations, and confessions by subjects. United States v. G. (1977). The studies that have established error rates for different approachesto polygraph testing are those that compare the findings of polygraph testswith information developed subsequently concerning both the actual natureof events and the actual knowledge subjects had of those events. United States revolved around a claim by convicted murder defendantJames T. Posado: The Fifth Circuit appliesDaubert to polygraph evidence. The polygraph examiner makes judgments concerning a subject's credibilityin relation to each of the questions posed by the examiner during thepolygraph test (Henseler, 1997). Sophisticated polygraph machines also may connect tochairs with seats and armrests wired to monitor muscle pressure and bodymovements (Tiner & O'Grady, 1988). Lehrer, E. Duque, 176 F.R.D. 95) The problem of prejudice becomes acute in relation to evidence basedon probability. Polygraph evidence after United States v.Scheffer. A fourth conceptual approach to polygraph testing designed especiallyfor criminal justice applications proved to be impractical for widespreaduse by police. Comparison ofvariations in subject physiological responses to control and relevantquestions provides the basis for evaluating a subject's truthfulness(Henseler, 1997). The polygraphtest examiner then compares the resulting sum of the subject's responses toa table of standard numerical values to determine the overall level of asubject's truthfulness or deception. Alogical appraisal of this claim, however, argues against such an outcome inrelation to the responses of an untruthful subject, as an increase in themagnitude of the physiological responses to control questions narrows thegap between responses to control and relevant questions. The subjective nature of polygraph scoring is noted by the fact that individual examiners may assign different numerical values for each response which will lead to differing final results. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Energy. (1988). The Advocate, 59(1), 43-48. Scientific evidence:The fallout from the U.S. Even the criminal justicecommunity, however, splits on the question of the introduction of polygraphtest results as evidence in criminal trials. The objective of polygraph testing in all ofthese situations, however, is the determination of the truthfulness ofstatements made by individuals concerning their own actions or theirknowledge of events (Ghannam, 2 ). The most widely applied approach to polygraph testing in thecontemporary period is the CQ technique. 1246, 1251, W.D. Further, the United States Supreme Court upheld, in United States v.Scheffer, a Military Rule of Evidence barring the acceptance of polygraphevidence. Assessing deception: Polygraphtechniques. Supp. (1998, June). The absence of widely acceptedstandards for polygraph rest administration and for the qualification ofpolygraph test examiners together cast a major shadow on the validity ofpolygraph testing (United States v. This approach, known as the concealed knowledge (CK)technique, evaluates truthfulness based on subject responses to questionsthe answers to which only the perpetrator of a criminal act could know.The major obstacles to the application of the CK technique involve theability of know with certainty a subject's knowledge of an event and theextent to which a subject remembers the details of an event (Honts & Quick,1995). The concern is the potential for surprise to cause similarphysiological responses to those caused by subject deception (Honts &Quick, 1995). The Journal of General Psychology, 123, 3 9-324. (1998, August 3). Furthermore, it is not beyond the realm of possibility to have separate examiners reach final results indicating truth and deception respectively. Polygraph evidence in federal courts:Should it be admissible? The circuit court articulated the "Frye Test" when it heldthat "the thing from which any expert testimony is deduced must besufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in theparticular field in which it belongs" (Henseler, 1997, p. Theassumption is that this approach increases subject stress, therebyincreasing the magnitude of the subject's physiological responses to thecontrol questions. Truth be told: Rejected job seekerschallenge results of polygraph tests by feds. Other critics question the assumption thatdifferent physiological response is an indicator of untruthfulness orwhether it is simply a manifestation of nervousness, anxiety, fear,confusion, or another emotion felt by a subject that may produce a changein physiological response. 1998). Honts, C. Gallai, D. Whenprovided with the opportunity, jurors tend "to alter their verdicts basedon contradictory polygraph evidence" (Henseler, 1997, p. The major reason foropposition by some members of the criminal justice community in suchsituations is to prevent the introduction of polygraph test results thatare favorable to defendants. These conceptual approaches areas follows (Henseler, 1997): > The relevant-irrelevant (R-I) technique, > The control question (CQ) technique, and > The directed lie control (DLC) technique. Thus, if "a subject has no recollection of a murder he committed,one would not expect the subject to produce physiological responsesindicative of deception when he denies committing that murder, even thoughhis denial is counter to reality" (Henseler, 1997, p. Science & Government Report, 31(3), 1-3. The reality of allowing polygraph exams into evidence requires that an expert testify as to her opinion of whether the subject truthfully responded to the specific questions asked during the exam. (1999, September 1 ). (2 1, January). Unlike irrelevant questionsused in the R-I approach, however, the purpose of the use of controlquestions in the CQ approach is to provoke physiological responses, as wellas false denials, on the part of a subject. 1292). Some applications of polygraph testing attachadditional components to the standard polygraph. With respect to the three techniques of polygraph testing usedextensively, each technique requires a pre-test interview. In 1982, Kleinmuntz and Szuckoobtained the charts of one hundred polygraph tests performed by the thenwell-regarded Reid Polygraph Agency in Chicago. Bander (1997) stated that: "It would be more accurate tosay that estimates of polygraph reliability range from below fifty percentto over ninety percent and that none of these estimates are free frommethodological difficulties" (p. "When the subject is awarethat the truth is already known, he or she is no longer under the type ofanxiety and pressure that surrounds the standard polygraph exam. Since 198 , 1 separate studies based on 1,9 9 real cases showed that the accuracy rate for truthful subjects was 97% and for deceptive subjects, 98%. Rather, opponentsquestion the reliability and validity of polygraph testing. This is an evaluation that the jury typically makes on its own. Honts and Quick also reported findings thatthe DLC approach is even more accurate than the CQ approach. Ga. The polygraph instrument attaches to the subject to both measureand record the subject's physiological responses to questions posed by thepolygraph examiner. Under this model, admitting the polygraph results serves no useful purpose, but has the potential of serving a harmful purpose (Gallai, 1999, p. 1261, 1266, 1998. (1995). CriminalJustice, 14, 12-18. Cordoba, 991 F. United States v. Researchers such as Honts and Quick (1996), whosupport polygraph testing, reported findings of 9 percent accuracy for theCQ approach. Irrelevant questions involve such topics as subjectname or subject address. R. The DLC technique is similar to the CQ technique in that it alsoinvolves the use of both control questions (to which the polygraph testexaminer directs a subject to answer falsely) and relevant questions aboutthe issue under investigation. Polygraph examiners evaluate the mental competency of subjects toparticipate in polygraph testing before the conduct of such tests. In fact, there is convincing evidence to suggest that the procedure is much more likely to create victims of false allegation than it is likely to detect purveyors of falsehood or paragons of guilt-however falsehood or guilt may be defined. 1199, 12 8, C.D. Police and other members of the criminal justice community are strongsupporters of polygraph testing. R. 1). In 2 states, no license is required for polygraph examiners, and standards varyin states where licensing requirements exist (United States v. A. (2 , September). Wash. (Buchanan, 2 , p. As an investigative aid, the applications of polygraphtesting by criminal justice organizations include establishing thecredibility of victims and witnesses, evaluating the truthfulness ofsuspects, on rare occasions eliminating innocent parties from suspicion,and in monitoring the activities of known sexual offenders residing in thecommunity. If this narrative were the end of thestory, the polygraph problem would not exist. Of theverified innocent subjects, the re-scoring evaluated 49 percent of thesubjects as guilty. The validation of the accuracy of polygraph testing requires that thevalidating researcher know the correct answers to the questions posed to asubject. A hybrid approach to polygraph testing uses both the CQ and the DLCapproaches in relation to control questions. (1996). North Dakota Law Review, 71, 987-1 7. A. The spectrum of admissibility to inferinnocence. Misconceptions and reevaluation - Polygraphadmissibility after Rock and Daubert. The truth about lying: Has lying got a badrap? DNA evidence probabilities provide juries and judges withodds of a million-to-one or even billions-to-one. Studiesconcerning the error rates of polygraph tests have yielded varying results. The pre-testinterview acquaints a subject with the polygraph testing procedures and thepolygraph examiner reviews with the subject the questions to which thesubject will respond during the polygraph test. It is not possible for a juror, or an expert, to be certain when that error will occur. The major problem with computer scoring is the absence of avalidated scoring mechanism for each of the physiological responses. Therefore, the examiner expects the magnitude of the physiological responses of an untruthful subject to be greater in relation to relevant questions where the subject lies purposefully than in relation to control questions where the utterance of false responses is at the direction of the polygraph test examiner. As polygraph testing in the workplace, researchers and defense lawyersbegan to question the accuracy of the polygraph testing process. Thus, as stated earlier,laboratory studies cannot establish error rates applicable to differentapproaches to polygraph testing. A drawback of the R-I approach topolygraph testing is that it produces a high proportion of false positiveassessments that a subject is untruthful (Gallai, 1999). 7 5). Journal of Applied Psychology, 62, 127-152. More recently, the United States Supreme Court, while holding thatdefendants do not have a constitutional right to admit favorable polygraphresults in criminal cases, has allowed district court judges to decide on acase by case basis to allow or disallow such findings as evidence in somecriminal cases. Thepurpose of the literature review is to provide a broad understanding of therole and limitations of polygraph testing in criminal justice. 1294).Proponents of polygraph testing contend that polygraph test developers andexaminers comprise the "field in which it belongs" with respect toestablishing to scientific acceptance of the validity of polygraph testing. Ghannam, J. The consensus of legal experts is that the decision"indicated the Court's reluctance to adopt the technology as a reliableevidentiary gathering tool" (Savage, 1998, p. Polarized over polygraphs. On the fallibility of liedetection. ABA Journal, 86, 17. Researchers attempt to establish the reliability of polygraph testingthrough the determination of error rates. Until adequate minimum standards are adopted, polygraph exams will always remain suspect in the eyes of Daubert even without getting to the question of error rates and accuracy. Supp. Supreme Court's decision in Kumho Tire. 1998) Furthermore, supporters of the jury system contend that admittingpolygraph test determinations into criminal trials as evidence will replaceone of the most important roles of the jury, which is the determination ofthe credibility of witnesses and evidence. (1998, June). Although polygraph testing is not a panacea for all criminal justiceinvestigations, it is an effective investigative tool. References Bander, Y. The question of knowing the truth in order to validate the polygraphtesting technique is a formidable barrier. Frater, E. Both asubject's memory and a subject's interpretation of events are susceptibleto distortion. Scheffer, 118 S. By increasing subject physiological responses tocontrol questions, the claim is that the DLC approach widens the differencebetween subject responses to control and relevant questions, and, in turnimproves the reliability of the polygraph evaluation (Henseler, 1997). The physiological responses measured and recorded bythe polygraph instrument are objective and, when performed properly,accurate. Thus, even if thescientific community accepted the reliability of polygraph testing,concerns about rendering juries superfluous would remain. Nocourts and few in the scientific community have accepted the findings ofsuch contrived experiments (Henseler, 1997). The study involved 5 polygraph charts verified as deceptive by the subsequent confessions of thesubjects and 5 polygraph charts verified as truthful by the subsequentconfessions of other individuals. H1: An inverse relationship exists between public confidence onthe reliability of police investigations and the use by police of polygraphtesting as an investigative tool. Supp. As the scoring of asubject's physiological responses is a subjective process, however, thevalidity of the claim is questionable at best. (Gallai, 1999, p. The defendant challenged the rule on Sixth Amendment and dueprocess grounds when the trial court refused to admit into evidence theresults of a polygraph test favorable to the defendant that was ordered bythe federal government and was administered by a federal governmentpolygraph test examiner (Dripps, 1998) A further obstacle to the acceptance of polygraph test results asevidence in criminal trials is the federal law prohibiting the mandatory orcoerced use of polygraph testing by civilian employers. 1975 United States v. Alexander, 526 F.2d 161,168, 8th Cir. Because of theabsence of any governmental oversight before the implementation of theEPPA, private employers administered more polygraph examinations thaneither the federal government or state criminal investigators. The 1923 case FryeV. The result of thisprocess, ... 1997). D. It testing 5 employees at a federal facility wherein the assumption isthat one-percent (5 subjects) are subversive and the remaining 99 percent(4,95 subjects) are not subversive, the decision tree demonstrates that a9 percent accuracy rate for polygraph testing will generate positiveevaluations that are 91.7 false. Other studies concluded, however, thatpolygraph testing outcomes are no more reliable than change and frequentlyare less reliable than chance (Henseler, 1997). The great majority of psychophysiologists, however, rejectthese claims (Henseler, 1997). The latter activityeliminates the potential for surprise that may be inherent in unknownquestions. Rather, according tothis line of reasoning, criminal convictions should rest on individualpieces of evidence linking each individual defendant to a specific crime.In this context, the United States Appeals Court, Ninth District, ruledthat: Allowing evidence of polygraph exams, whose error rates may range anywhere from 1 % to 5 %, to be a deciding factor in a defendant's innocence or guilt, is essentially trying the defendant based on probability. [pic]Source: Sandia National Laboratory, 1999 Earlier tests tended to mirror the results discussed above in relationto the reliability of polygraph testing. Countermeasures are actions takensubjects to generate physiological responses that will distort theinterpretations of the polygraph test examiner. 1998). 1998. NationalJournal, 32(37), 28 -28 2. As an example, somepolygraph machines include a pneumatic tube that stretches around asubject's throat to gauge swallowing, contractions of the throat, and voicemuscle tension. Proponents of polygraph testing attempt to get over this hurdlethrough the conduct of laboratory experiments involving the use of collegestudents in contrived situations that the participants know have no basisin reality and that they will suffer no adverse consequences whether or notthey are untruthful in their responses to the questions posed to them. A research study tested one hypothesis, as follows: H : Public confidence in the reliability of policeinvestigations is unrelated to the use by police of polygraph testing as aninvestigative tool. It doesnot seem possible both to recreate the conditions surrounding the usualpolygraph exam and to obtain an independent verification of truth to testthe polygraph results" (Henseler, 1997, p. 3)Legal Acceptance of Polygraph Test Results As Evidence William M. As is true of irrelevantquestions used in the R-I approach, control questions in the CQ approachare irrelevant to the issue under examination. Cordoba, 991 F. Retrievedfrom the Internet 2 1- 3-1 at:http://www.bccla.org/positions/privacy/84polygraph.html Chapman, J., & Lopresti, R. Law & Society Review, 17, 85- Kornet, A. The oppositionfocuses exclusively on the interpretation of a subject's physiologicalresponses within the context of a subject's truthfulness. The CQ approach involves the useof both control questions and relevant questions. Such studies indicate that error rates are high for all approaches topolygraph testing, and that error rates range from 25 percent to 75 percent(Kornet, 1997). Truth or Consequences: Apolygraph screening program raises questions about the science of liedetection. The polygraph test examiner then evaluates variationsin a subject's physiological responses to relevant questions and asubject's responses to both sets of control questions (Henseler, 1997).Unfortunately, neither the DLC approach nor the hybrid approach producetest outcomes that are more reliable than those produced by the CQ approach(Gallai, 1999). Legal critics argue that allowing the trier of fact to introducepolygraph test results in to court proceedings as evidence would be highlyprejudicial to defendants. Even courts that have held polygraph tests to be admissible under certain circumstances have acknowledged that the potential prejudicial effects of permitting a jury to consider a polygraphy examination are enormous, and thus rather disturbing. Similarly, standardqualifying standards for polygraph test examiners are not in place. Relevantquestions are those questions that are directly pertinent to the issueunder investigation. Psychology Today, 52-56. Kleinmuntz, B., & Szucko, J. The standard polygraph has three components: a blood pressurecuff, a galvanic skin response indicator, and a pneumatic chest tube. Because the R-I approach to polygraph testing generates high levels offalse positives, the approach has little scientific acceptance (Honts &Quick, 1996). Horvath, F. The United States Supreme Court affirmed the findings of afederal circuit court of appeals that examined the case and upheld theconviction. The Court stated that, while "the degree of reliability ofpolygraph evidence may depend upon a variety of identifiable factors, thereis simply no way to know in a particular case whether a polygraphexaminer's conclusion is accurate, because certain doubts and uncertaintiesplague even the best polygraph exams" (United States v. (1997). G., & Patrick, C. J. Accepted standard procedures for theadministration of polygraph tests are not in place. United States v. Marston invented the first polygraph instrument in1917. The combination of wide ranging error rates and the lack of operational and examiner standards weighs heavily on the side of inadmissibility as evidence. Dripps, D. University of Illinois Law Review,(333), 363-421. Proponents of polygraph testing, however, see things differently.Honts (1996) stated that: In the past 75 years over 25 studies have been conducted on the accuracy of polygraph testing. > The reverse will be true for untruthful subjects. The reasoning underlying this contention is asfollows: Once admitted, polygraph evidence usually will speak directly to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, or at a minimum, to a essential element which, if unsatisfied, would require a verdict for the defendant. (p. With respect to one set ofcontrol questions, the polygraph test examiner directs a subject to makefalse responses but does not indicate that the false responses are crucialto the outcome of the polygraph test. Polygraph test resultspresent juries and judges in best-case scenarios with probabilities rangingfrom seven to three or lower to no more than nine to one. Nagareda, R. (United States v. The addition of a standard-free environment surrounding the administration of the exam makes the result all the more suspect. (1997, Summer). Frye that the trial court refused to allow the introduction asevidence in his trial of polygraph test results supporting his claim ofinnocence. Critics of polygraph tests (e.g.,Iacono & Patrick, 1988; Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1982) generally dismiss theresults of all laboratory simulation studies as useless for estimatingfield accuracy. B. Again,however, most psychophysiologists reject these findings (Henseler, 1997). There are no validated objectivestandards relating specific physiological responses with truthfulness orlying. Honts, C. This early instrument relied entirely on variations in a subject'ssystolic blood pressure for the evaluation of truthfulness. (2 , September 9). The strongest criticism of polygraph testing is that of the AmericanMedical Association, which has questioned the reliability of polygraphtesting process. A more rational approach, however, is to define the appropriate field aspsychology, where rejection of the validity of polygraph testing iswidespread (Henseler, 1997). Faulty memory, time lapses,rationalization of events, and several other factors can create situationswherein a subject may no longer know the truthful nature of events andactions. Dripps, D. Members of the criminal justice community contend that, in spite ofquestions concerning the validity of polygraph testing, the procedureremains an invaluable resource (Phillips, 1999). (United States v. 1199, 12 8, C.D. The positive aspects of using polygraph testing in criminaljustice environments include the following: > Eliminating suspects, > Recognising false complaints, > Testing informants to determine the veracity of information provided, > Providing a new "key" to an investigation when all other standard investigative techniques have been exhausted, > Narrowing the focus of enquiry, > Gathering additional information and evidence, and > Assisting to focus the investigation on particular suspects. There is little point, therefore, of using either the DLCapproach or the far more complex hybrid approach.Scoring the Results of A Polygraph Test The polygraph examiner scores subject physiological responses to thequestions posed by the test examiner. Scientific testing, as sofrequently is the case, provides some basis for support for each side inthe dispute (Frater, 2 ). 1975). Police, plus perjury, equals polygraphy.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(3), 696-716. Harris, N. His purpose in making suchdeterminations, he said, to distinguish criminals from low abiding society(Tiner & O'Grady, 1988). Tiner, M., & O'Grady, D. L., & Moskowitz, R. Cordoba, 991 F. One technique used bysubjects is the self-infliction of pain when responding to control orirrelevant questions posed by the polygraph test examiner. The polygraph test scoring processinvolves the assignment based on test examiner judgment of numericalvalues. Findings of the Literature ReviewThe Polygraph: Concept, History, and Science Cesare Lombroso, and Italian psychiatrist and criminologist, stated in1895 that he could determine when a person was lying based on measuredchanges in the person's blood pressure. Both inaccurate memory and the inaccurate interpretation ofevents can lead to situations wherein a subject may believe that he or sheis answering truthfully when such is not the case, and the reverse case isequally possible. Ct. 2 5-233). A critical look at the admissibility ofpolygraph evidence in the wake of Daubert: The lie detector fails the test.Catholic University Law Review, 46, 1247-13 6. The polygraph would generate positive results in 38 out of 5 liars and in 351 out of 95 truth-tellers, that is, more than nine false positives for every true positive. Let trial judges decide: High Courtrejects a per se rule on polygraph evidence. Lies, damned Lies and polygraph tests.Insight on the News, 14(28), 3-5. The justification for use of polygraph testing incriminal justice settings is that the polygraph test is an importantinvestigative aid. TheUnited States Appeals Court, Fifth District held that: "With the lack ofstandardization of polygraph procedure and a lack of agreement as tonecessary qualifications of examiners, the jury would have very littlebasis to evaluate the conflicting expert testimony"( United States v.Duque, 176 F.R.D. Trial, 34(6), 75-78. (2 , Winter). Rogers (Ed.), Clinical assessment of malingering anddeception (pp. (1997, May 15). Specifically,"will juries continue to weigh the evidence and make their owndeterminations of fact and credibility, or will jurors adopt the results ofpolygraph results as their own because of their scientific nature and theirperceived ability to 'detect lies'" (Henseler, 1997, p. The assumption underlying the R-I approach topolygraph testing is that a subject's physiological responses will bestronger to relevant questions than to irrelevant questions. Further, theidentification of the bad apples in the human basket continues as the majorjustification for the use of polygraph testing ("Science of PolygraphsDebated as DOE Begins Mass Screenings" 2 1). Therefore, ifthere is any validity to the claim for the DLC approach, it logicallyapplies only to truthful subjects. Most law enforcement organizations in the United States usepolygraph testing. The polygraph is composed of a combination of devices that specificthe physiological responses of subjects to questions placed to them by anexaminer. polygraph testing: the achilles heel of criminal justice Introduction: Statement of the Problem The use of polygraph testing is widespread in the United States.Elements of the criminal justice system at all levels, private sectoremployers, and various governmental agencies conduct polygraph testing in abroad spectrum of situations. (1988). In real world situations, juries do not receive the results ofpolygraph testing directly. Criterion development and validity ofthe CQT in field application. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 41(2), 14-21. United States v. 1261, 1266, 1998). R., & Quick, B. 1246, 1251, W.D. J. The results of studies testing the reliability of the CQapproach vary greatly. Allowing an expert to offer her opinion to help the jury would, at worst, cause the jury to reach a conclusion without fully analyzing all the evidence, and at best, the jury would ignore the expert and make its own determination. A (1996, Spring). This barrier accompanies asecond barrier that requires a researcher to know that a subject is awarethat he or she is being untruthful. The polygraph in 1995: Progressin science and the law. Cordoba, 991 F. Washington, D.C.: UnitedStates Government Printing Office. This problem arises out of the inability to determine ground truth under real-life polygraph conditions. Juries are more than capable of determining what evidence they will accept and what evidence they will not accept without the help of an expert. Unfortunately, however,polygraph testing is the subject of long-standing and acrimonious disputesconcerning its validity (Chapman & Lopresti, 2 ). With rare exceptions,however, the results of polygraph testing remain inadmissible as evidencein courts in the United States (Dripps, 1998). Michigan Law Review, 97(5), 1 63-1149. The purposeof the limited survey of police officers is to assess the perceived valueof the use of polygraph testing in police investigations. (p. (1999, October 15). They argue that laboratory simulation of the qualitativecontext produced by the threat of criminal sanctions in the real world isnot possible. Scientific validity of polygraph testing. J. Thepolygraph test examiner then sums the subject responses. 1998 United States v. The polygraph test examiner assigns both a positive or negativecharacteristic to subject responses and a magnitude for each response. This fear is a result of evidence which, when labeled "scientific," becomes so persuasive in the eyes of the jury that it becomes prejudicial. Cal. The claim by proponents ofpolygraph testing is that this last step in the process causes polygraphtest evaluations to be objective in character. 95).Current Use and Value of Polygraph Testing Polygraph testing is in current use in more than 5 countries incorrections, criminal investigation, counter intelligence, and civilapplications. The major difference between the DLCapproach and the CQ approach is that the polygraph test examiner applyingthe DLC approach tells the subject that false responses by the subject tothe control questions are crucial to the outcome of the test. The capability of polygraph instruments to accurately measure asubject's physiological responses in not in doubt. The process of determining errorrates in polygraph testing is made more difficult by the same obstaclefaced by polygraph test examiners: one must know what the truth is beforeone can know if a subject is being truthful. 94) The development of a computerized scoring process to improve theobjectivity of polygraph testing has met indifference or rejection for themost part. Strong criticism emanating from the scientific communityalso targets the CQ technique of polygraph testing - the most widelyapplied approach to polygraph testing (Henseler, 1997). 1282). Ga. Drake. Wash. Further, as theearlier discussions in this literature review indicate, the bases of suchodds are the subjective evaluations of polygraph test examiners. 2). Cal. A juror, thus, is likely eitherto accept such results without question or to ignore them completelybecause he or she is unable to determine how much weight to accord to such(Gallai, 1999). Supp. associative of the monitoring machines of Scientology, is a series of conclusions about the veracity of specific statements or guilt generally, conclusions unsupportable by consistent scientific logic or by confirmation by other means. (1982). 413) The decision tree presented in Figure 1 (on the following page)illustrates the problems with false results generated by polygraph testing. Before the enactment of the EPPA in 1998, federal law did not regulatethe use of polygraph testing for non-criminal purposes. A group of 1 polygraphexaminers then independently re-scored the polygraph charts. With respect to the second set ofcontrol questions, he polygraph test examiner directs a subject to makefalse responses and tells the subject that the false responses are crucialto the test outcome. But there is a good chance that one defendant was wrongly convicted because individual juries are incapable of accounting for the 1 % error rate when they are deliberating in only one case in which polygraph evidence is being offered. The use of countermeasures by subjects is another obstacle to thereliability of polygraph testing. Another problem confronting the proponents of polygraph testing is theissue of the efficacy of countermeasures. Louisiana Law Review, 57, 691-724. Research indicates that subjectsmay deliberately adopt strategies that provoke physiological responses thatwill obscure accurate physiological measurement, thereby rendering thepolygraph meaningless (Nagareda, 1999; Dripps, 1996). In this context, apolygraph test is a self-fulfilling process, "measuring a series ofphysical signs with the machine and drawing subjective, psychologicalsounding conclusions in varying ways depending upon the mental state andset and training of each, and the rapport between both, the examinationsubject and the examiner" (Buchanan, 2 , p. Phillips, M. Iacono, W. Science,286(5439), 413-414. The basis for a determination of deception insubject responses is the variation in a subject's physiological responsesbetween relevant questions and irrelevant questions. Cal. Science of polygraphs debated as doe begins mass screenings. In 1977, Horvath examined 56 polygraph charts verified as innocent byusing subsequent confessions made to police. Savage, D. The assumedvariations are as follows (Henseler, 1997): > Because it will be difficult for truthful subjects to make examiner-directed false responses to control questions, the magnitude of the physiological responses of a truthful subject will be greater in relation to the control questions to which he made false responses as directed by the polygraph examiner than in relation to relevant questions that the subjected answered truthfully. Henseler, T. McCall, J. The polygraph gives the wrong answer 9 times out of 1 , and who would want to use a fire alarm or a cancer test that was wrong 9 % of the time? Further, different cultural backgrounds cancause subjects to react different physiologically to stressors (Frater,2 ). (2 ). (2 1,February 15). The subjectivityof polygraph examiners' evaluations of subjects' physiological responses(mentioned above) is one area of concern. The R-I technique is the oldest of the polygraph testing techniquesused most frequently. (1997). ABA Journal, 84, 52-53. Sandia National Laboratory. There have been more published studies done on polygraph accuracy, validity and reliability than on handwriting analysis which is routinely admitted into evidence on a daily basis. Therefore, the same exact test may show deception according to one examiner and uncertainty according to another. Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States.(1983). The assumption is that the greater concern for an untruthful subject will be the answers given to relevant questions. Alexander, 526 F.2d 161,168, 8th Cir. Reconceiving the right to presentwitnesses. 1997. The concept underlying polygraph testing is that a subject willproduce different physiological reactions when lying than when beingtruthful. (1999, Winter). Vancouver,British Columbia: British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. 52). The effect of selected variables on interpretationof polygraph records. The polygraph testing procedure and the polygraph instrument is an"accretion of 193 s technology and popular psychology rooted not inpractices of modern science, but rather based on the traditions ofpolygraph testing itself" (Buchanan, 2 , p. In 2 1, variations in blood pressure measurements continue to be amajor component of contemporary polygraph testing. (2 , January). Polygraph examiners from the Reid agencythen independently re-scored all 1 polygraph charts, and, in the process,incorrectly classified 39 percent of the verified innocent subjects asguilty. Giannelli, P., & Imwinkelried, E. The expert is, in effect, making a judgment on the subject's credibility at a specific instance. The galvanic skin response indicator measures changes inthe skin's electrical conductivity, which increases when a personperspires.
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