Forensic 5

Module 7
TYPES OF POLYGRAPH TESTS
The polygraph test consists of asking the subject/person through a list of prepared
questions in a planned sequence comprising of not more than twelve. At least 3
charts are taken, each lasting not more than four minutes with a rest interval of five
to ten minutes between charts.

Two general types of questions

Types of questions to be constructed and maybe supplemented by other
types of questions
1. General Question Test (GQT) – the most commonly applied
2. Peak of Tension Test (PTT) – which is usually used as supplementary
test.

Five set of tests that maybe applied during the polygraph examination process:

Test I – General Question Test – the purpose is to get the standard tracing of the
subject and to establish a true telling pattern for the initial part of the record
Test II – Number Test (Psychological Test) – the purpose is to check the possible
deliberate distortion when the chosen number is asked and to obtain a chart wherein
the subject is not under stress
Test III – Spot Responder – the purpose is to determine the responsiveness of the
subject to crucial question on spot responses.
Test IV – Mix Question – the purpose is to compare the degree of reaction between
control and relevant question
Test V – Silence Answer Test (SAT) – it is a confirmatory test.

Formulation of General Question Test

General Question Test - This test consists of a series of relevant, irrelevant, and
control questions that are asked in a planned order. The questions are arranged in
such a way that it is possible to compare responses to relevant questions with a
subject norm. Such responses are compared with answers given by the subject to
the irrelevant and controlled questions. The formulated questions are all answerable
by “yes” or “no.”

Relevant Question – functionally, relevant questions are questions directly related to

the offense under investigation. In pre-employment and periodic screening, the area
of interest may be the subjects’ entire background.

Classification of relevant question according to its stimulation effect when applied

a. Strong relevant or primary relevant question – which has an intense
relationship to the crime or problem being considered. This is intended to
produce strong emotional response in guilty subjects.
b. Secondary – weak relevant – are questions that concern with elements of the
crime and deals mostly on guilty knowledge and partial involvement.
 Classification of weak relevant
a. Sacrifice relevant or DYAT questions (Do you intend to Answer
Truthfully) – designed to absorb the response generally generated by
the introduction of the first relevant questions in the series. Reaction to
these questions gives the examiner a clue as to the subject’s attitude of
willingness or voluntariness to submit to the test.
b. Knowledge questions – this type of question is propounded to the
subject to detect information about a crime that only a guilty subject
would have. Such information might include details about the site of the
crime or type of weapon. It is hypothesized that guilty subjects will
exhibit a different physiological response to the correct (relevant detail
than to the incorrect details, but the innocent subjects will respond the
same to all the items.
c. Evidence- connecting question – this has to do with inviting subject’s
attention on the probability of incriminating proof that would tend to
establish his guilt, by linking him and his predicaments to the
fingerprints, footprints, tool marks, collected at the crime scene.

Control Questions – are questions on which all subjects will be potentially untruthful.
They are used to absorb any anxiety of a truthful subject and draw the attention
away from the relevant questions. The control questions are designed that they will
draw a possible lie from the subject to items broadly similar to the issue on hand.
The reactions are used for purposes of comparison. Essentially, truthful subjects are
believed by polygraph examiners to be more concerned about control than relevant
questions. The responses to both control and relevant question are compared

Two kinds of control question

1. Primary control question – recalls the offense done from the time of childhood
up to three to five years before the occurrence of the present offense being
investigated. Example – before reaching the age of 28, have you ever stolen
anything?
2. Secondary control question – more specific in nature, it is based upon another
sort of wrong doing which will enhance the subject’s opportunity for
responsiveness. Its scope includes up to the present period of examination.
Example – have you ever stolen anything from the locality?

(the formulation of both types of control questions necessitates reasonable

certainty that the subject’s answer is a lie. It is theorized that although guilty
subjects will also be concerned about and thus exhibit more physiological
reactions to relevant questions.

Irrelevant (Neutral) question - questions which have no importance to the case under
investigation, these are questions which are believed to have no or very little
emotional impact on a subject. Thus, such questions can be used as an indicator of
a particular subject’s normal baseline level of arousal. Example – did you eat today?
Do you smoke?

General Question Test Set-Up;

 1. Irrelevant question —known truth or facts and is answerable by “yes”
2. Irrelevant question - known truth or facts
3. Weak relevant question - pertains to the case being investigated
4. Irrelevant question — known truth or facts
5. Strong relevant question — pertains to the case being investigated
6. Primary control questions - formulated for truth telling subject/s
7. Irrelevant question — known truth or facts
8. Evidence connecting (relevant question) — pertains to the case being
investigated
9. Knowledge question (relevant question) — pertains to the case being
investigated
10. Secondary control question — formulated for truth telling subject/s
11. Relevant – Check Question (Optional

This is basically the set of questions asked of a subject during the first test. These
questions are jumbled or asked in no particular order by the examiner to avoid
familiarity or the sequencing effect on the subject. This, however, will be properly
informed to the subject during the rest period which is given after each test, or while
the next test is about to commence

Other question that maybe asked in polygraph

1. Check question – last question asked in the lie test. It is direct question that
relates to the facts that the subject has told the truth to all questions asked in
the lie test.
2. Fishing expedition test – used to vagrants or loiters for routine interrogation.
No idea about what offense has been committed.

Supplementary Test Question

The Peak of Tension Tests

This kind of test can only be done if there is no widespread publicity about a crime,
where details of facts pertaining to the crime being investigated are known only to
the victim, the suspect, and the investigator. This test has been proven as a reliable
indicator of deception even after an intensive interrogation. There are two kinds of
peak of tension test, namely, the Peak of Tension Test A (PTA) and the Peak of
Tension Test B (PTB).

The Peak of Tension Test is similar in format to concealed information tests.

However, it is different in the sense that the questions here are given in a way that is
easily recognizable (and answerable) for the subject (e.g., “What was the amount of
money stolen?” etc.).
In this type of test, the guilty subject shows a pattern of responsiveness: it increases
with the correct alternative approach in the question sequencing and decreases
when the sequence questioning stops. Often, the examiner knows which alternative
is actually connected to the incident and proceeds to evaluate the subject’s response
patterns for evidence of deception/honesty with regards his/her involvement in the
incident.
The Peak of Tension Test is also used when the examiner does not know the actual
answer connected to the event but wants to use the test anyway in aid of
investigation. In this case, it is assumed that the pattern of a guilty person’s
autonomic responses would reveal the right answer.

Peak of Tension Type A (PTA)

This is arguably the most reliable because it reduces the margin of error. The theory
is that one or more pertinent pieces of information exist, which are known only to the
client, the examiner, and the one guilty of the offense.

Sample PTA Procedure

In a jewelry shop, Mr. Elias, the manager, after conducting an inventory of their
goods and cash sales for the day, left his office at 9:00 pm. Upon remembering that
he has forgotten some papers in the store, he returned at 10:00 pm. He noticed the
cash box was missing. Three employees know the safe combination aside from him.

In the PTA theory, a subject submitting himself for the polygraph examination would
know the pertinent information if guilty, and would not know the information if
innocent. The examiner thus prepares a set of five questions to be repeated twice on
the test. The crucial question is then placed in the middle, padded by two before and
after it. Psychologically, such placement allows the guilty subject to build up to a
peak prior to and including the crucial question with relief and return to the norm
thereafter.
The list of five questions is prepared in a specific order, and then given or reviewed
to the subject beforehand. The subject must know the exact order in which they will
be asked, and the examiner must not deviate from this sequence. Thus, if the
subject is going to lie, he will know exactly where in advance. The following shows
the sequence of sample test questions that can be asked:

 Did you enter Mr. Elias’ private office between 6:00 and 7:00 pm yesterday?
 Did you enter Mr. Elias’ private office between 7:00 and 8:00 pm yesterday?
 Did you enter Mr. Elias’ private office between 9:00 and 10:00 pm yesterday?
 Did you enter Mr. Elias’ private office between 10:00 and 11:00 pm
yesterday?
 Did you enter Mr. Elias’ private office between 11:00 and 12 midnight
yesterday?

Afterwards, the same set of questions is repeated in the exact order, rounding it up
to 10 questions. The examiner then repeats the whole proceeding on the second
test. As can be seen, the crucial question is repeated four times on the two set of
tests. Typically, the guilty subjects will manifest a reaction every time that crucial
question {i.e., the one he plans to lie) is asked.

Peak of Tension Type B (PTB)

In theory, the PTB is designed to determine the location, disposition, modus
operandi, and amounts from a list of “possibilities”. The card, name, and number
tests are also included to help convince a skeptical subject of the accuracy of the
instrument. In application, the PTB resembles the PTA in the sense that the former
has the same question formulation, However, in the PTB, there Is no restriction in
the amount of questions that can be used, Typically, due to cardio pressure, the
ideal number is between five to seven questions duplicated on the same chart.

Sample PTB Procedure

In a watch store, watches have been stolen the night before. After conducting a
thorough investigation, the examiners withheld information as to the kind/brand of
watches stolen. Moreover, due to the lack of inventory, only the suspect knows the
brand names of the watches he has stolen. Thus, the questions formulated focused
only on the brands carried by the burglarized store. The examiner does not have the
exact brand name of the stolen watches, which could be the case when there are no
periodic inventories of stocks. The questions proceed as follows:

 Was the brand of the stolen watch “Guess”?

 Was the brand of the stolen watch “Rolex”?
 Was the brand of the stolen watch “Tag Heuer”?
 Was the brand of the stolen watch “G Shock”?
 Was the brand of the stolen watch “Esprit”?
 Was the brand the stolen watch “Gucci”?

These are then repeated again on the same set of test, running for at least four times
for the duration of a test. Unlike in the PTA, the questions used in the PTB are
reviewed with the subject before the actual test and the succeeding tests are not the
same as the previous one.

A card test is inserted in between the series to establish the subject’s norm. In this
test, the examiner can detect the exact brand the suspect has stolen because of the
consistent reactions when asked of the particular brand during each test, even if
repeated in no particular order.

Experience dictates that a subject who keeps on moving during his peak of tension
test is involuntarily indulging in defensive activity. Even the eyeballs of the subject
dilate when he deliberately evades answering a question. In this situation, the
examiner must be more observant of the subject's reactions while answering the
questions formulated. This is because the subject might have involuntary
movements when he answers a question wrongly, and thinks that he may be caught
because he is lying.

Guilt Complex Test (GCT) – this test is applied when the response to relevant and
control question are similar in degree and in consistency and in a way that the
examiner cannot determine whether the subject is telling the truth or not.
The subject is asked questions aside from the irrelevant, relevant and control
questions, a new series of relevant questions dealing with a real incident and that
which the subject could not have committed.
 If the subject does not respond to the added relevant questions, it indicates
that the subject was being deceptive as to the primary issue under investigation.
However, no conclusion can be drawn if the response to added guilt complex is
similar to the real issue questions.
Example – Did you steal that Ferrari toy collection? On this case the stealing
of Ferrari toy collection was not actually committed because the alleged crime
investigated was the loss of the Ipod.

Symptomatic question - its function is to detect and evaluate the presence of

outside issues which may suppress response to relevant questions. This is often true
that the subject is fear that they might be asked about another case in which they are
involved but are not the subject matter under investigation.

S.K.Y. Questions
S-Suspect
K- Knowledge
Y – You as the subject
These three questions are based on the Backster Technique grouped
together to confirm the previous charts and may detect indirect involvement on guilty
knowledge.

S- Do you suspect anyone in particular of stealing Nick’s Ipod?

K- Do you know for sure who stole Nick’s Ipod?
Y – Did you steal Nick’s Ipod?

Silent Answer Test (SAT)

Since the advent of the control question technique, the most significant
advancement in the polygraph questioning technique is the Silent Answer Test
(SAT). In the SAT, the examiner instructs the subject to refrain from giving any
audible answers to the questions that would be given. He will just listen to each test
question and answer only to himself, including nodding his head.

The SAT is typically administered near the end of the test series in cases where
the first few tests do not clearly reveal the subject’s status, or where the subject’s
effort to answer the test questions verbally distorts the tracings. However, the SAT
can also be employed as the very first test in the examination series.

It could be an emotional hindrance for the subject if he is not allowed to answer

questions. Therefore, it is presumed that the subject would be at a distinct
disadvantage if told not to answer a question, especially during a polygraph test. The
subject who is lying to the relevant questions may exhibit suspicious behavior when
told not to answer any of the questions; consequently, he may think much more
about the questions to which he can silently lie. A mental conflict thus occurs, which
produces an emotional reaction reflected on the polygraph record.

In addition, when answering questions aloud, some subjects are actually

defending themselves against the examiner, and by talking, they are allowed to
relieve themselves of some of the tension created by the questions. However, during
the SAT, these subjects can no longer “defend” themselves against the examiner
and must now lie to themselves (in the case of a guilty subject). As he lies silently,
he will try harder to conceal the deception, which can accentuate his polygraph
responses.

There are two significant points to keep in mind in order to achieve the maximum
benefits from the SAT. First, the subject must clearly understand that on the SAT, he
will be asked the same questions as those on his previous tests, in exactly the same
sequence. Second, the subject should understand that although he cannot orally
answer any test questions, he will also be answering by himself, and as such, he
should answer truthfully. This mental activity of thinking about the question causes
conflict in the subject’s mind, which is the normal reason why deception can be
detected in the test records.

The image shows the position of the subject while on rest period between
charts. The rest period is observed to normalize the blood flow in the arm caused
by prolonged inflation of the cardio cuff
This image shows the close up view of the SAT results

This image shows the full view of the SAT results; notice the markings on the
lower part, which have no negative or positive signs. This is because the test is a
SAT

Zone Comparison Test

Zone – a twenty to thirty five seconds block of polygraph chart time initiated by a
question having a unique psychological focusing appeal to a predictable group of
examinees.

Five variations of the Zone Comparison Test (ZCT)

1. Matte Quadri-track Zone Comparison technique – is a polygraph technique
used exclusively for single-use tests. It was developed by Matte after two
years of research and experimentation with fictitious crime test used in
conjunction with actual test in real-life situations. This test also employ
 Backster’s basic structure and quantification system with some refinements
and addition of another spot consisting of a control/relevant question pair to
deal with examinees “fear of error” and the guilty examines “hope of error”
2. Backster Tri-Zone Comparison technique – permits the use of inside track
“fear of error” control question and the “hope of error”. When the Backster
zone comparison technique does not incorporate the fear/hope of error
questions the only difference remaining in the test structure between numbers
one and two techniques is the position of symptomatic questions which are
opposite

The color coding according to Backster are

 The red zone- for the Control questions

 The green zone- for the Relevant questions
 The black zone- for the Symptomatic questions
3. The Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) Bi-Spot Zone
Comparison Technique- the first zone contains the relevant questions
concerning primary, secondary and S-K-Y questions. The second zone is
used when there is only one question or issue that must be addressed in the
examination.
4. Integrated Zone Comparison Technique – developed in 1987 by Nathan J.
Gordon, William M. Waid and Philip M. Cocheti. This technique has the most
significant departure from the original zone comparison technique developed
by Cleve Backster.
5. The Utah Zone Comparison Technique- the structure of this technique is
basically the same for single issue test as it is for multiple issues tests.
However instead facts of a crime or matter under investigation, the single
issue test uses relevant question that addressed a single issue only.

In the ZCT, each zone is assumed to be threatening to any given subject; however,
depending on the examinee’s mental set, it is anticipated that one particular zone is
more threatening than the others. Historically, the ZCT is the first type of comparison
question test to use a numerical scoring system, mainly a seven-point rating scale
applied to physiological measures for each relevant question included in the test.

Based on the results, the examiner is expected to form three opinions about the
relevant questions asked of the subject: Truthful, Not truthful, and Inconclusive.

Test of Espionage and Sabotage

The so-called Test of Espionage and Sabotage is a directed-lie test developed by

the Polygraph Institute of the U.S. Department of Defense. Currently, it is used by
some U.S. government agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, for
security screening purposes.

This test features a series of relevant and directed-lie comparison questions that are
repeatedly used to address varied related issues, such as sabotage, espionage,
communicating with unauthorized foreign contacts, and non-authorized release of
information.
The Test of Espionage and Sabotage is scored using the conventional seven-
position scoring system, wherein the total score is the sum of the scores of three
examination parameters for each question on all the charts. The numerical
thresholds are predefined regardless of whether a test indicates any kind of
significant response that could show either a deception or a form of inconclusive
result. Here, a judgment pertaining to a significant response is further assessed
using further questioning and further testing with other types of tests (e.g., single-
issue format polygraph tests).

Concealed Information Test

The Concealed Information Test (also known as concealed knowledge or guilty

knowledge tests) ask questions presented as sets of highly similar items, wherein
one represents a true fact and the others, include some false details regarding an
incident being investigated. Such details have not yet been publicized; hence, it is
assumed that the true answer would only be known to the investigators and those
who are at the scene of the incident being investigated.

For example, in a theft-related investigation, subjects may be asked about possible

points of entry into the house, and one of those would be the actual entrance used
by the thief. Thus, when a subject is asked about whether or not he used any of
these entry points, the answer would be negative regardless of whether the subject
is guilty or innocent. Hence, when a guilty subject is questioned, he would tend to
respond more strongly to the question about a true detail than to the other questions
in the set.

However, one limitation of the concealed information test is that it is only applicable
under certain restrictions, i.e., when there is a specific incident that can serve as the
subject of questioning and if there are many relevant details known only to
investigators and possible suspects. For these reasons, this kind of test is not
deemed applicable for typical screening situations where the only possible relevant
questions involve general events and details.

Commonly used Questions Sequencing

The most common techniques in sequencing questions are Revised Reid-Inbau
Relevant-Irrelevant test and the Backster’s Zone Comparison Test

The Revised Reid-Inbau Relevant-Irrelevant test

1. Irrelevant
2. Irrelevant
3. Weak relevant
4. Irrelevant
5. Strong relevant
6. Primary control
7. Irrelevant
8. Evidence Connecting
 9. Knowledge
10. Secondary control
11. Symptomatic

The Backster’s Zone test

1. Irrelevant
2. Sacrifice relevant
3. Symptomatic
4. Control
5. Strong relevant
6. Control
7. Strong relevant
8. Symptomatic
9. Guilt complex
10. Weak relevant
11. S
12. K
13. Y

References
- The Essentials of Polygrpahy by Marry Jane Q Adra RCr, M.S. Crim. And Dr.
Danilo Lago Tancangco
- Polygraphy: The Art and Science of Lie Detection by Nichols S. Caballero and
Rommel K. Manwong
- Polygraphy Lie Detection by Prof. Joner C. Villaluz- RCrim, Ph.D, Col. William
A. Revisa- Ret. Ph.D and Carlito Panganoron, Jr. Ph.D