INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the use of the polygraph has been of increasing interest to those
involved with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. In every criminal
investigation, the victim, suspect and witness groups involved, present their own version
of what transpired during a given specific period of time and place subject to a
criminal investigation. Each endeavor to color his own observation, experience or
concoct a story tainted with lies for some personal reasons. It becomes the
investigator’s problem to distinguish truth from falsehood in the reconstruction and
determination of the real facts concerning a crime under investigation. He utilizes
common sense, experience and knowledge of human behavior to determine whether
his subject is giving him evasive and false statements, or, is actually ignorant of the facts
as claimed.

The interrogation of criminal suspects may not be easier today than before, but it
is at least on a more objective basis. Objectivity on the part of the examiner requires,
however, not alone a scientific method and technique, but also discernment of the
psychology of the suspect. Each of these three factors- scientific method, scientific
technique and psychological insight- were lacking in the most ancient and medieval
attempts to determine the truth. Indeed, in many parts of the world there are still
employed the methods of the Ordeal and Torture.

It is the unexpressed intention of the liar to misled, and since people generally
dislike being misled, one who lies is apt to find his word contested and himself punished.
For thousands of years, therefore, law has punished the liar. Exceptions have been
noted, however. Thus interviewing example of group acceptance of the lie is to be
found in one of the most ancient collections of books of law, manuscripts of which
appeared among the Hindus around 800 B.C. In one of these books, the “Dharmasastra
of Gautama”, thejudge is permitted to rely implicitly upon the testimony of witnesses
and to adhere to the principle that “no guilt is incurred in giving false evidence in case
the life of man depends thereon”. Also, the Vasistha Dharmasatra stated that “Men
may speak on untruth when their lives are in danger or the loss of their whole property is
imminent.

Although some conclusion can be drawn from inconsistencies and improbabilities

evident in the given statements, most often, the investigator has to rely on the external
manifestation of living discernible from the facial expression and postural reaction of his
subject. A careful observation of the physical state of the subject as influenced by his
emotional reactions to questions has traditionally assisted by the investigator in gaining
an insight in the determination of guilty knowledge or deception on the part of a
subject.

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 Inferences based from various symptoms observable in a subject, However, not
always reliable criteria for detecting deception. At times, they are consistent with a
state of mere nervousness, excitement, anger, embarrassment, anguish, fear, shock or
prevailing atmospheric condition and not necessarily associated with guilty knowledge.

There is at present, available to interrogators, a scientific and possessing

reasonable accuracy in the verification as to the whether suspect is being deceptive or
truthful. It utilizes the same principle- that bodily function of a person are influenced by
his mental state and some of the physiological changes accompanying deception are
capable of being recorded, measured and interpreted with reasonable certainty.
These inner changes are in nature, automatic, self-regulating and beyond conscious
control. The utility of this scientific aid called “Polygraph”, is an invaluable aid in criminal
investigation, taking into consideration that investigators, as a rule are restrained from
resorting to violence, coercion, promised or reward, immunity or leniency or employ
such other method as may vitiate the Ace will of his subject in the interrogation process.

These are the problem Ares of the crime investigators. The truth must be
segregated from the lies. Otherwise, too many man-hours will be lost in the following
upon tracing false leads. The polygraph examiner, with the instrument and the charts
taken from the subject, will be able to furnish the crime investigator to insight as to the
subject’s guilt, guilty knowledge or innocence. And this in turn will greatly aid the
investigator in formulating the proper course of the action in order that his goal of
prosecuting only the guilty and sparing the innocents from untold worries and hardships
concomitant with aspersion of guilt will be accomplished.

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Topic 1 History of the Development of Polygraph
Lesson 1: Definition of Important Terms
Lesson 2: History
Lesson 3: Personalities behind Polygraph

Topic 1 History of the Development of Polygraph

The best-known method of detecting deception is the use of the polygraph

technique often incorrectly referred as the “lie detector”.
Polygraphy refers to the scientific method of detecting deception with the use
of the polygraph instrument (machine). It is administered by asking the subject
questions relevant to the case under investigation.
The word polygraph is composed of two words; “poly” which means many
and “graph” which means writings. Literally the word polygraph means many writings.
Polygraph refers to an instrument designed for recording changes in blood pressure,
pulse, respiration, and skin resistance as indicative of emotional disturbance especially
of lying when questioned.

Lesson1 Definition of Important Terms

1. Polygraph - is a device or instrument capable of recording internal bodily changes

such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, and electro dermal properties of the
skin (galvanic skin reflex) which are indicative of emotional disturbances especially
of lying, when questioned.
 The term polygraph is derived from the two Greek word “poly”
means many or several and “graph,” means writing chart.
2. Polygraphy – is defined as the scientific method of detecting deception through the
use or aid of polygraph.
3. Polygraph Examiner – means any person who uses any device or instrument to test
or questioned individuals for the purpose of detecting deception.
4. Subject/Examinee – means the person who undergoes a detection of deception
examination.
5. Chart or Polygrams – refers to the composite records of the pneumograph ,
galvanograph and cardiosphygmograph tracing recorded from series of questions.
6. Deception – is an act of deceiving or misleading usually accompanied by lying.
7. Detection – is an act of discovering the existence, presence of fact of something
hidden or obscure.
8. Emotion – is an agitation, disturbance or tumultuous physical or social movement
constituting a departure from the calm state of the organism as includes strong
feeling, an impulse to overt action and internal bodily changes in respiration,
circulation and granular action.
9. Fear – is an emotional response to specific dangers that appears to be potentially
beyond a person’s defensive powers.
10. Lying – is the uttering or conveying falsehood or creating a false or misleading
impression with the intention of affecting wrongfully the acts, opinion or affection of
another.

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11. Normal Response – is the tracing on the charts wherein the subject answered in the
irrelevant questions.
12. Reaction – it is an action or mental attitude evoked by an external influence. As any
aroused in an organism by a stimulus.
13. Response – is any activity or inhibition of a previous activity of an organism or an
affected organ or part of the organism resulting from stimulation.
14. Specific Response – is one that is exhibited by a subject to particular questions,
which constitute a deviation from the subject individual norm.
15. Stimulus – is the force or motion reaching the organism from the environment and
excites the receptors. In short, it is any force that arouses the organism or any activity
of its parts to activity.

Lesson 2 History

In the middle of the 19th century, Dr. Hans Gross, an Australian known as the
Father of Criminalistics, defined “search for truth” as the basis and goal of all criminal
investigations. He asserted that a large part of the criminal’s work is nothing more than
a battle against lies. Throughout the centuries, man continued to experiment with more
scientific methods in determining truth and detecting deception.
Sir James Mackenzie, a medical doctor and famous English hear specialist, who
first described the instrument entitled “The Ink Polygraph”, was published in the British
Medical Journal in 1907. This ink polygraph is intended solely for medical purposes, to be
fundamentally the same as the blood pressure-pulse and respiration recorders used for
lie detection purposes.

Lesson 3 Personalities behind Polygraph

1. Development of Cardio- Sphygmograph

Sphygmograph. (n) An instrument for
A. Angelo Mosso (1895) - He studied fear recording the arterial pulse rate on a graph
(from Greek word SPHUGMOS, the
and its influence on the heart. His observation
PULSE+GRAPH)
subsequently formed the basis for detecting
technique. Sphygmomanometer. (n) An instrument
for measuring blood pressure, especially of
He developed the sphygmomanometer the arteries.
and “scientific cradle”, which was designed to
measure the flow of blood while a person lay on
his back in a prone position. The “cradle” consisted of a large, heavy table at the
center of which was a delicate knife-edge fulcrum. A heavy wooden plank rested
securely and evenly on the fulcrum. To prevent constant swaying of the balance with
each small oscillation of respiration, a heavy metal counterpoise, which could be
adjusted up or down, was fastened vertically in the middle of the plank. When the
subject experienced emotion, the blood would rush to the head and throw the cradle
out of balance, which in turn would be recorded on a revolving smoked drum. A rubber
cuff was also wrapped around the subject’s foot and connected by a tube to a
tambour recording pulse fluctuations.

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 B. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909)

He employed the first scientific instrument to detect deception to actual criminal

suspects on several occasions while assisting the police in the identification of criminals,
which is known as Hydrosphygmograph. This instrument measures changes in pulse and
blood pressure when suspect were asked about their involvement in or knowledge of
specific response. The suspect’s fist would be placed in a water-filled tank. The immerse
fist was sealed across the top of the tank by a rubber membrane. Pulsations of blood in
the fist were transferred to the water level and were carried over into an air-filled tube,
which recorded the pulsations on the revolving smoked drum.

He was accorded the distinction of being the first person to utilize an instrument
for the purpose of detecting lies.

C. Dr. William Moulton Marston (1915) – An American Scientist

He was considered the father of the modern polygraphy. After years of research,
he devised the Systolic Blood Pressure Deception Test, which consisted of intermittent
recordings of a suspect’s systolic blood pressure during questioning using a standard
medical blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, requiring repeated inflation of the
pressure cuff to obtain readings at intervals during the examination. Hence, it was also
called the “discontinuous technique.”

During World War I, a committee of psychologists formed by the National

Research Council for the purpose of evaluating the known deception test for possible
use in counterintelligence investigations determined after a number of experiments that
the systolic blood pressure deception test was superior to other deception tests and
enjoyed 97% reliability.

He dealt with the sphygmomanometer and made researches on the usefulness

of sphygmomanometer in detecting lies, which was used to obtain periodic
discontinuous blood pressure reading during the course of a test.
He recorded the respiration and noted the time of subject’s verbal responses.

He also experimented with galvanometer to record skin resistance changes and

a gripping device to record tension.

D. John Larson (1921) Psychologist

The work of Marston on blood pressure test aroused and excited his curiosity and
in 1921 he developed an instrument that continually and simultaneously measures
blood pressure and respiration. This polygraphic apparatus, which assembled in
portable form, was used extensively in criminal cases with much success.

He designed the first two recording channel polygraph in the history .The first
mechanical form of detecting deceptions because it does not only have a recording

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pen for cardiosphygmograph, pneumograph and galvanograph but also it has the
muscular movement pen for the arm and thighs.

E. Leonarde Keeler

He had gained firsthand experience in polygraph interrogations from Larson.

In 1926, he developed an improvement of Larson’s recorded relative changes in

blood pressure, pulse rate, and respirations patterns. However, Keeler developed a
metal bellows, also known as a tambour, which was connected by mechanical
actuating devices to small fountain pens. Volume changes within a blood pressure arm
cuff and accordion type tube also known as a pneumograph tube circling the chest or
stomach of the subject were transferred in heavy walled rubber tubes to the
aforementioned tambours. Keeler further designed a kymograph that pulled, at a
constant speed, chart paper under the recording pens from a roll of chart paper
located inside the instrument. In 1949, he invented the “Keeler Polygraph”. Today,
Leonarde Keeler is known as the “Father of modern polygraph.”

In 1988, Keeler included a third physiological measuring component in his

instrument, namely the Psycho-galvanometer (PGR) also known as the galvanic skin
reflex (GSR), developed by the Italian physiologist Galvani in 1791.

2. Development of Pneumograph Component

A. Vittorio Benussi (1913-1914)

In March 1913, he presented his experiment regarding respiratory symptoms of

lying and he detected deception by changes in the inspiration and expiration or the
breathing pattern.

B. Harold Burtt (1918)

He determined that respiratory changes were indication of deception. He found

out that changes in systolic blood pressure were a greater value in determining
deception than in changes in respiration.

C. Richard Arther

He is the first polygraphist to record simultaneously on regular basis chest and

abdominal breathing patterns.

3. Development of galvanograph

A. Luigi Galvani (1791)

He is an Italian psychologist who was accorded the distinction for developing

the galvanic skin reflex (GSR) or the galvanometer, which records electrical bodily

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resistance in term of ohms, the lowest current ever recorded. The GSR reflected
emotional changes by measuring changes in person’s skin resistance to electricity.

B. Sticker (1897) – He made the first applications of the psycho galvanometer to

forensic problems and for detecting deception based on the works of several
predecessors.

C. Veraguth (1907) – He was the first one to use the term “psychogalvanic reflex”.
He believed that the electrical activity resulted from sweat glands, which are controlled
by the autonomic nervous system.

4. Development of Questioning Technique

A. Leonarde Keeler (1942)

He developed the “relevant – irrelevant” test. Theory of this test is that guilty
reacts only to relevant questions and innocent shows no reactions.

He added the “personally embarrassing” (EPQ) to his relevant – irrelevant

technique, which was designed to elicit a reaction only from the innocent subject,
reasoning that the guilty would be still the more concerned with the relevant or crime
question. However, it was found that both the innocent and the guilty reacted to the
question.
He included un-reviewed control question or “surprise question” that serves the
same purpose as the EPQ. Although EPQ apparently ceased in 1951. The surprise
control question is still part of some relevant/irrelevant technique use today. Keeler is
also credited with introducing the “card test”.

B. John E. Reid (1950)

He developed the “reviewed control question” consisting of a know lie

incorporated into relevant – irrelevant test. The theory of the test is to stimulate the
innocent subject, to identify the general nervous tension and guilt complex reactor and
to improve contract between innocent and guilt subjects. He also discovered the “guilt
– complex test” administered to the overly responsive subject.

C. Cleve Backster (1960)

Backster conceived the psychological sit theory that form the basis of his zone of
comparison technique that provides constant monitoring of the subjects reactivity and
designed to disclose outside issue. This is known as the “Backster Zone Comparison
Technique Test”.

5. Early Publications of Polygraph

A. Sir James Mackenzie (1906)-A famous heart specialist. It was said that
“polygraph” exist as early as 1906 but it is not being used to detect deception. He first

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described the instrument in an article entitled “The Ink Polygraph” which appeared in
the British Medical journal in 1908.

B. Vittorio Benussi (1953)-He presented a paper before the second meeting of the
Italian Society for Psychology in Rome, on the subject of his experiments regarding
respiratory symptoms of lying.

C. Richard O. Archer (1953)-The first polygraphist to record simultaneously two

galvanic skin reflexes.
In 1996 he founded the Journal of polygraph science, the oldest of the
polygraph publications.

D. Richard I. Golden (1969)-He presented a paper at the annual Seminar of

American Polygraph Association at Houston, Texas regarding the experiments using
existing control question techniques but requiring the subjects to answer each question
twice. The first time truthfully and the second time with lie, for the purpose or requiring
additional psycho-physiological data from the examinee by comparing his subjective
truthful answer with a known lie to the same question.

6. Other Pioneers in the Field of Deception Detection

A. Francis Galton (1879)-He developed the much acclaimed psychological test

known as the Word Association Test, whereby the patient is presented with group of
words sufficiently separated in time to allow the patient to utter his first thought
generated by each word. Dr. Carl Guztav Jung later developed the work and
experiment of Galton.

B. Hugo Musternberg – He suggested the forensic application of the word

association technique in detecting deception.

C. Allen Bell (1972)-He is an inventor who developed a device called Psychological

Stress Evaluator (PSE). This instrument detects slight trembling in the voice, which may be
interpreted to determine if person is telling the truth.

D. Frank Anton Mesmer - In 1778 he was the first one to introduce hypnotism as a
method of detecting deception.

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Topic 2 Early Methods of Detection of Deception
Lesson 1: Trial by Combat
Lesson 2: Methods of Ordeal in Detecting Deception
Lesson 3: Scientific Methods of Detection of Deception

Topic 2 Early Methods of Detection of Deception

The search for a reliable means to identify the untrustworthy is as ancient as man. Some
techniques were founded in superstitions and/or the religious belief that “God would in
some way reveal the truth and disallow the immorality”. Many of these attempts, in
fact, had some psychological and physiological basis; other methods relied solely on
fear of continued pain and torture.

Historically, early human beings have their own way of determining lie or guilt on
the part of the accused and accuser. Their common method is thru the application of
“ordeal”. An ordeal is a severe test of character or endurance, trying course of
experience, and a medieval form of judicial trial in which the accused was subjected
to physical tests, as carrying or walking over burning objects or immersing the hand in
scalding water, the result being considered a divine judgment of guilt or innocence. It is
also a term varying meaning closely related in the Medieval Latin “Lie Indicum”
meaning “Miraculous decision.”

Lesson 1 Trial by Combat

This trial was characterized by a fight between the accused and the
accuser or it either the accuser will hire a combatant or fighter (mercenary or
gladiator) to fight the accused. Very few used a beast in this trial that prove guilt
and innocence of the accused, though history tells that beast had been used in
trial by combat.
In the later development of human civilization DUEL becomes a modern
form of trial by combat.

Trial by Ordeal

Ordeal is a practice of referring disputed questions to the judgment of God,

determined either by lot or by certain trials. Throughout Europe the ordeal existed in
various forms under the sanction of law and was closely related to the oath. In the
Middle Ages in Europe people commonly believed that guilt or innocence could be
determined by God through “Trial by Ordeal”. Legalists believe that this kind of
approach is a product of “MYTHS”. Myths are distorted beliefs based upon emotion
rather than rigorous analysis.

Deception. The act of deceiving or misleading through misrepresentation usually

accomplished by means of lying.

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Lying. The uttering or conveying falsehood or creating false impressions affecting acts,
opinions or affections of another. It is done through:

a. Verbal terms spoken by the mouth

b. Acts, feigns or ruses through marks, signs and symbols

Detection.The act of discovering the existence or presence of something hidden or

obscured.

Stimulus.The force or motion reaching the organism from the environment and excites
the perceptors.

Lesson 2 Methods of Ordeal in Detecting Deception

It is significant that, with few exceptions, the historical accounts of detecting deception
from the days of Christ, through the middle Ages, are the histories of the Ordeal.
Superstition so swayed the minds of people that it was rule for them to ask for the ordeal
to prove their innocence. The accuser was not looking, evidently, for suspicious clues in
the face or actions of the individual, for apparently the psychology of deceit did not
exist. Even the religious of Europe, as late as the 16th Century, taught that proof of
innocence or guilt would be furnished from on High in a variety of mystical modes.
People did not consider that proof lay within or on the surface of suspect himself.

1. Red Hot Iron Ordeal – this form of trial was used among the hill tribes of Rajhamal in
the north of Bengal (India) where the accused was apt to be told to prove his
innocence by applying his tongue to red hot iron nine times (unless burned sooner).
If burned, he was put to death. (Perhaps a sense of guilt made the mouth dry)

2. The Red Water Ordeal – the accused fast for twelve hours, swallow a small amount
of rice, then imbibes of the dark colored water sometimes as much as a gallon. If this
acts as an emetic and the suspect ejects all of the rice, he is considered innocent of
the charged; otherwise he is judged guilty. Their explanation is that a fetish of the
victims enters the mouth with the emetic red water, examines the heart of the
drinker, and if it finds him innocent brings up with rice in evidence.

3. The Boiling Water Ordeal – as a test for deception, this ordeal is in use in modern
Africa. During explorations in British Africa, a Barotse native in her retinue stole a
calico cloth from her supplies, and to find the thief she allowed the natives to
employ a test which had previously been outlawed along local witchcraft.
According to this explorer:

“The whole lot of sixty-odd natives with the wives, girlfriends and children who were
along lined up and our head boy explained the situation. There was a thief and the
boiling water test was to be applied to find him. There was not one dissenting voice.
All agreed it was fair test, so a fire was built and on it settled a huge pot water.
Solemnly we watched it come to a boil. Then boil furiously, a smaller pot of cold

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 water was turning over in huge rolls the best began. Men, women, little children,
and big one’s stepped forward one by one, each plunged his right arm into the
boiling pot to the elbow, and then into the line on the other side of the fire. Everyone
took the test without murmur when all was finished they were told to return at the
same time, the next afternoon. The one who, by that time, had lost some skin or
showed a blister would be proved the thief.”
4. The Rice Chewing Ordeal – An ordeal very like this is still practiced in India.
Concentrated rice is the article chosen, instead of bread and cheese. Instances are
not rare in which, through the force of imagination; guilty persons are not able to
swallow a grain. Conscious of their crime and fearful of the punishment, they feel a
suffocating sensation in their throat when they attempt it, and they fall on their, and
confess all that is laid to their charge.

5. The Balance Ordeal – this is practiced of testing the veracity of the accused by
placing him on one scale of balance. It merely this, in one scale the accused was in
the other, a counterbalance. The accused then stepped out of the scale, listened
to a judge deliver an exhortation to the balance, and got back in. If he were found
to lighter than before, he was acquitted.

6. Combination of Drinks and Food Ordeal – An ordeal practiced by the West African
region where the accused first fasted for 12 hours and the given small amount of
rice to eat followed by large amount of black colored water. If the concoction was
vomited, the accused was pronounced innocent, otherwise, guilty.

7. Trial by Combat – A fight between the accuser and the accused, whoever lost the
battle will be the adjudged guilty. Originated in India where an accuser could hire
somebody or bigger one to fight the accused. After the fight the loser will be
adjudged as guilty of crime. It became the legal ordeal in England during the time
of “King Henry III.”

8. Trial by Torture – The accused was put into a severe physical test. If the accused can
endure such torture, he will be considered innocent.

9. Drinking Ordeal - The accused was given a decoction to drink by a priest – if

innocent; no harm befalls him, but if guilty, will die. Practiced in Nigeria and India.

10. Trial of the Eucharist – This trial is reserved for the clergy, and administered with pomp
and ceremony. If the accused was guilty, it was believed that Angel Gabriel will
descend from heaven and prevent the accused from swallowing the food given to
him. Practiced in the European countries.

11. Ordeal by Heat and Fire – The accused was compelled to walk bare footed through
a fire; if he remains unhurt then he is innocent. Practiced in East Germany, early
Scandinavian countries and early England.

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12. Ordeal of Boiling Oil or Water – The accused was forced to dip his hands into the
boiling water oil and ask to pick up stone in it. If he remains unhurt then he is
innocent. Practiced in Asian Countries.

13. Ordeal of Red Hot Needle – A red hot needle was drawn through the lips of the
accused, if innocent, no blood will be seen flowing out. Practiced in East Africa.

14. Ordeal of the Tiger – Accuser and accused were placed together in the same and
a tiger set loose upon them. If both were spared, further elimination followed.
Practiced in Thailand.

15. Test of the Cross Ordeal – The accuser and accused each were made to stand with
arms crossed on their breast. The one who endured the longest was deemed to
have told the truth, the other, is the liar. Practiced in Europe.

16. The Donkey Tail Ordeal – A donkey was placed in one room alone and was
observed. If the donkey cried as judge of the guilty of crimes, then the accused is
guilty.

17. Ordeal of the Tiger – The accused and accuser are placed inside a cage of a tiger;
if the tiger spares one of them he is considered innocent. Practice in Siam.

Ordeal Practiced in other Countries

1. Burma – The accuser and accused were given each identical candle and both were
lightened at the same time. The holder of the candle that consumed faster was
adjudged the liar.
2. Borneo – The accuser and accused were presented by shellfish placed on a plate.
An irritating fluid was then poured on the shell fish and the litigant whose shellfish moved
first was adjudged the winner.
3. Greece – A suspended axe was spun at the center of a group of suspects. When the
axe stopped, whoever was in line with the blade was supposed to be guilty as pointed
out by the divine providence.
4. Nigeria – The priest greased a feather and pierced the tongue of the accused. If the
feather passed through the tongue easily, the accused was deemed innocent. If not,
the accused is guilty. Another method in Nigeria was the practice of pouring corrosive
liquid into the eyes of the accused that was supposed to remain unharmed if innocent.
Pour boiling oil over the hand of the accused with the usual requisites for guilt or
innocence (if remain unharmed, he is innocent).
5. Europe and Early United States (17th Century) – Trial by water commonly used on
those accused of witchcraft. The accused was bound (hand and foot) and then cast
into the body of water. If the accused sank, he was hauled to the surface half-drowned
and deemed innocent. If he floated, he was deemed guilty and burned to death.

Lesson 3 Scientific Methods of Detection of Deception

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It is the method of gathering and knowing from the subject about the crime dispute or
the question of issue employing the use of machine or device, drugs or substances and
other accessory means. Most of the test are not reliable to be tried and thus the
information gathered are not admissible in court as evidence but only important to be
used for further investigation.

1. Hypnotism – This method was introduced by an Austrian Physician Franz (Friedrich)

Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) in 1778. He believed in animal magnetism, by which in his
own personal electro – magnetism, therapeutic effect influenced other persons. These
effects produced were attributed to the state of mind of a subject whereby he is set up,
and thereby instructed to sit quietly and gazed at flashing light or shiny object tangled
in front of his eyes and to cooperate with whatever the hypnotist would like him to do.

Detected deception through hypnosis was not admissible in court due to the following:

 It lacks the general scientific acceptance of the reliability of hypnosis in

ascertaining the truth from falseness.
 The possibility that the hypnotized subject will deliberately fabricate.
 The prospect that the state of heightened suggestibility in which the hypnotized
subject is suspended will produce distortion of the fact rather than the truth.
 The state of the mind and professionalism of the examiner are too subjective to
permit admissibility of the expert testimony.

2. The Word Association Test – This method was introduced in 1879 by Sir Francis Galton
(1822-1911) – an English Scientist and Anthropometrist. His experiment was later
developed by Dr. Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) – a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist
and founder of Analytical Psychology.
This method is done by giving a subject a long list of carefully selected stimulus
words or objects with other pictures combined with other irrelevant words, objects or
pictures with the instruction to respond with the very first that may come to subject’s
mind. Dr. Jung was able to observe how the thinking reactions were linked into the
emotional habit of his subject. The theory behind this method is that, one word or idea is
reflective of another word or idea and the expression of their association forms a
meaningful picture.

3. The Truth Serum Method – This method was introduced by Dr. Edward Mandel House
(1858-1938), a U.S Physicist and diplomat and confidential adviser to former U.S.
president Woodrow Wilson. The term “truth serum” is a misnomer. The procedure does
not make someone tell the truth and the thing administered is not a serum but is
actually a drug.

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 This method is based on the theory that “intervention through interrogation is
made possible after dosage of drugs has been appropriately administered, which
depresses the cerebral activity to a point of unconsciousness, an influence called as
the “House Receptive Stage” or the “Twilight Zone”. On this condition the subject is half
asleep.

The objective of the test is to extract from the subconscious mind of the subject
the stored contents of the mind called “memory”. During the test, a drug called Byosine
Hydrobromide “ is usually administered hypodermically to the subject in repeated doses
until a state of delirium in induced. When the proper point is reached, the questions
were answered by the subject truthfully. He forgets his acts or may even implicate
others. Accordingly, he will disclose everything without evasiveness.

Of all the deception detection methods, the “Truth Serum” test is considered
most favorable and effective if all the following conditions proper to the conduct of the
test will be observed:

 The test must be performed by skilled experimenter, operator, technician, or

physician.
 The subject expresses his consent to undergo the test.
 The dosage of drug injected or administered is sufficient for acquiring desired
results.
 There is sufficient time during the test.
 Assurance of result is acquired to determine truth or deception.

Through statement taken from the subject under this process is not admissible as
evidence in court because its nature is involuntary, its application to criminal
investigation is very useful because of its psychological effect, before, during and after.
Just as well, a person not knowing the misleading notion of the test may tell the truth to
avoid pain of needles and possible brain destruction even before the test is done.

4. Narco-analysis or Narco-synthesis
This method of detecting deception was practically the same as that of
administration of truth serum. The only difference is the drug used. The drug Soduim
Amytal or Soduim Pentothal is administered to the subject. When the effect appear,
questioning starts. It was claimed that the drugs causes depression of the inhibitory
mechanism of the brain and the subject talks freely. The administration of the drug and
subsequent interrogation must be done by a psychiatrist. Like the administration of truth
serum the result of the test was not admissible in court.

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5. Intoxication
This was practiced by means of drinking alcoholic beverages as stimuli to obtain
truth on the part of the subject. The subject for interrogation will be allowed to take
alcoholic beverages up to the point of intoxication. Theoretically, when under the
influence of alcohol, the power of control is said to be admonished; thus, the subject
will tend to tell everything he knows or reveal all the relevant information. Interrogation
is to be made during the excitatory effect of alcohol.
Under this method, there is eventually lack of self-control of the subject under
intoxication. When the subject is already in the depressive state due to excess alcohol
intake, he will not be able to answer questions anymore, and perhaps fell asleep.
Confessions made by the subject while intoxicated is admissible if he is physically able
to recollect the facts and state them truly and exactly even after the influence or
“spirit” of alcohol has disappeared. But in most instances, the subject can recall his
utterances or usually refuses to admit the truth of the statement given.

6. The Psychological Stress Evaluation (PSE)

When a person speaks, there are audible voice frequencies, and superimposed
on these are the inaudible frequency modulations which are products of minute
fluctuation of the muscle of the voice mechanism. Such oscillations of the muscles or
micro tremor occur at the rate of 8 to 14 cycles per second and controlled by the
central nervous system.
When a person is under stress as when he is lying, the micro tremor in the voice
utterance is moderately or completely or completely suppressed. The degree of
suppression varies inversely to the degree of psycho logic stress on the speaker. The
psychological stress evaluation (PSE) detects, measures and graphically displays the
voice modulation that we cannot hear.
When a person is relaxed and responding honestly to the question, those
inaudible frequencies are registered clearly on the instrument. But when a person is
under stress, as when he is lying, these frequencies tend to disappear. Under this
method, the following procedures are followed:

 The examiner meets the requesting party to determine the specific purpose of
the examination and to begin formulation of relevant questions.
 A pre-test interview is conducted with the subject to help him or her feel at ease
with the examiner, to provide an opportunity to specify matters, to eliminate
outside issues, and to review question that will be asked.
 An oral test of about 12 to 15 “yes” or “no” question is given which is recorded on
a tape recorded. The questions are a mixture of relevant an irrelevant questions.
 Immediately following the test or are a late time, the tape is processed through
the Psychological Stress Evaluation for analysis of answer.

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  If stress is indicated, the subject is given authority to provide additional
clarification. A retest is given to verify correction and clarification.

The methods of Detecting Deception through Regular Police works:

The police methods sought to answer the legal investigative process are the so
called “Five Wives and One Husband” technique or the 5 W’s and 1 H which stands for
WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO, WHY and HOW. These question are used to gain the so
called “Three Eyes” (3 I’s) of investigation refers to the following:

1. Information gathering- through record check, surveillance and intelligence check.

2. Investigation- through interrogation and/or interview to obtain admission or
confession.
3. Instrumentation- through criminalistics processes with the use of the different
investigative forensic sciences such as medico legal or forensic medicine, forensic
chemistry, forensic photography, forensic ballistics, questioned documents
examination, dactyloscopy, and polygraphy or deceptography.

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Topic 3 Theoretical Framework of Polygraph
Lesson 1: The Instrumental Premise
Lesson 2: The Physiological Premise
Lesson 3: The Psychological Premise

Topic 3 Theoretical Framework of Polygraph

Lesson 1 Mechanical basic promise

– that the machine is mechanically capable of making a graph containing

reliable information physiological changes.

Lesson 2 Physiological basic premise

– that among the physiological changes that may be recorded and identified,
are those which may automatically occurred, only following the stimulation of
these specific nervous system components, from which the stimulation of these
specific nervous system components can be reliably diagnosed.

Lesson 3 Psychological basic premise

– the specific nervous system component whose stimulation can be diagnosed,

are so stimulated by the involuntary, mental and emotional processes of an
individual who is continuous.

 sly attempting concealment of deception, especially if that

individual has something at stake and surrounding.

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