Presented By:

PRINCESS CASTRO RODRIGUEZ, MSCJ

Instructor
Lesson 4.2
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1.To understand the Psychology of lying;

2.To determine the possible psychological
responses of lying; and
3.To know the accuracy and admissibility of
polygraph result to court trial.
 The Psycho-Physiological Aspects of
Polygraphy
ü Involuntary physiological changes
ü Inner deviations are involuntary and beyond conscious control
üThey are triggered by the stimulating effect of well-prepared
questions, to which a truthful response may result in punishment
üAll physiological activities are recorded when a person is
examined with a lie detector
üOur complex system of internal check and balance, which
primarily involves the body's automatic nervous system, is
responsible for his ability to adjust
When a stimulus is requested, the ear receives it and sends it to the brain's thought
control center. During the interview and the actual test, the body's flight or fight
mechanism analyzes the verbal stimulus and determines whether it will have an
effect on the body's well-being., the thought-control center simply ignores it, the
fight or flight mechanism is not stimulated, and the body continues to function at a
normal physiological pace.
 A physiological chain reaction occurs when a stimulus is
perceived by the subject to be threatening to his person; from
relatively normal deviation. The subject's body adjusts to changes in
the environment automatically, and his fight or flight mechanism
kicks in to protect him from the consequences of being caught
lying.

In this situation, nerve impulses originating in the medulla

of the brain are diverted to the central nervous system and
automatic nervous system, where they are analyzed again and
responsibility for their handling redelegated to the body's general
emergency nervous system, known as the "sympathetic system."
Certain physiological changes occur to varying degrees as the
sympathetic system kicks in.
 The lie detector instrument records the various responses
that occur in the human physiology, and these are the changes that
the trained lie detector examiner can use to detect possible
detection. To be clear, the polygraph instrument does not detect
deception; rather, it measures certain identifiable physical
reactions such as those affecting respiration rate, pulse rate, and
galvanic skin resistance to a very small amount of current, in
combination with the use of a reliable questioning technique.
The Psychology and Psychological Responses of
Lying
Lying is a type of deception that involves deceiving others verbally.

The following are some of the concepts perceived and explained

by various theorists in psychology;

1.The psychoanalytic explanation of Sigmund Freud as the

interplay of id, ego, and super-ego can be used to explain lying.
The ego is the mental level that operates according to the reality
principle. Our id sometimes forces us to stay away from reality
because it causes us anxiety.
The following are some of the concepts perceived and explained
by various theorists in psychology;
2.Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that we have an innate desire
to meet our needs one by one. In order to reach these levels and
avoid stumbling blocks on our way to meeting our needs, we make
statements that may or may not be true.

When a person tells the truth versus when a person tells a

lie, neuropsychologists have noticed a distinct difference in brain
activity. Because different parts of the brain are used to
deliberately tell a lie than they are to speak the truth, there is a
clear distinction between the two from a neuropsychological
standpoint.
 There are mental disorders that may result in patients
telling lies, but not realizing that what they are saying is not true.
Examples include Paranoid Personality Disorder or some of the
Dissociative Disorders.

Despite the fact that most people aren't very good at

detecting lies, scientific research has uncovered a few noteworthy
methods for detecting deception. The use of physiological
measures such as the polygraph to detect evidence of deception
has a long history.
 Admissibility of Polygraph
Examination/Result
Is Polygraph Result/Examination admissible as evidence in court?

The answer is “YES”, if allowed by the judge. If the

polygraph was administered by an unqualified and inexperienced
examiner, the results are unlikely to be used by the judges. Today,
there is a lot of activity in the court system regarding the use of
polygraphs, and the laws are rapidly changing.
 Under the following conditions, polygraph and expert testimony
relating to it may be admissible with a stipulation to support other
evidence of a defendant's involvement in a crime or to support or
charge his testimony:
A.That the admissibility of the polygraph test is a matter for the
trial judge to decide. The trial judge may reject such evidence if he
is not convinced that the examiner is a component or that the
result was not obtained under proper conditions;
B.That both parties' counsel and the subject sign a written
condition for the subject's admission to the examination and
subsequent admission to trials of the graph and examiner's
opinion on behalf of either the defendant or the state;
C.If the examiner's opinion is offered as evidence, the opposing
party is entitled to cross-examine the examiner on the following
topics:
1. The qualifications and training of the examiner;

2. The stipulation under which the test was administered;

3. The restrictions and possibilities for the errors of the technique;

4. At the good judgment of the trial judge, any other matter

deemed important to the inquiry.
 Accuracy of Polygraph
Examination/Result

Studies on the accuracy of polygraph testing have been

conducted over the last 75 years. It is difficult to draw a precise
figure for the accuracy of polygraph testing in all settings from the
data because many different conditions factors are involved in the
study, and because the polygraph examination is a very complex
process.
Nonetheless, the overwhelming body of evidence suggests
that when a properly trained examiner employs a well-established
testing procedure, the accuracy of polygraph examiners' decisions
is generally in the range of 95 percent to 100 percent, depending
on the factors that influence the test.
QUESTIONS