Gapan City College

College of Criminal Justice Education

Subject: Lie Detection Techniques

Year: 3rd year BS Criminology
Instructor: Jim Oliver E. Binala
College of Criminal Justice Education

MODULE 2
LIE DETECTION and FORENSIC PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

LIE DETECTION
 also referred to as deception detection
 uses questioning techniques along with technology
that record physiological functions to ascertain
truth and falsehood in response
 It is commonly used by law enforcement and has
historically been an inexact science. There are a
wide variety of technologies available for this
purpose. The most common and long used measure is
the polygraph, which the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences states, in populations untrained in
countermeasures, can discriminate lying from truth
telling at rates above chance, though below
perfection. They added that the results apply only
to specific events and not to screening, where it is
assumed that the polygraph works less well.

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
 came from the Greek words:
  ψῡχή, psȳkhē which means "breath, life, soul";
 φύσις, physis which means "nature, origin"; and
 -λογία, -logia which means “study of”
 It is a branch of psychology that is concerned with
the physiological bases of psychological processes.

POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION
 a process that encompasses all activities that take
place between a polygraph examiner and an examinee
during a specific series of interactions
 For a valid polygraph examination to exist,
respiration, electro dermal activity, and
cardiovascular activity must be monitored and
recorded.
 It is also termed “Forensic Psychophysiological
Detection of Deception (PDD)”, the science that
deals with the relationship and applications of PDD
tests within the legal system. It is the academic
discipline that provides the student, the
practitioner, and the researcher with the
theoretical and applied psychological,
physiological, and psychophysiological fundamentals
for a thorough understanding of PDD tests, and the
skills and qualifications for conducting PDD
examinations.

POLYGRAPH TEST
 Refers to techniques applied or used by the
polygraph examiner in a particular polygraph
examination.
 He may use Relevant-Irrelevant Test, General
Question Test, Peak of Tension Test, etc.
POLYGRAPH
 derived from the word POLY which means “many” and
GRAPHOS means “writing chart”
 literally means "many writings”
 It refers to the science of the test, in which
several physiological responses/ changes are
measured at the same time to detect signs of
deception. This process is called forensic
psychophysiology, which denotes the relationship to
the mind and the body as it pertains to physical
responses to thoughts and emotions.
 This is an instrument for the recording of changes
in blood pressure and pulse rate, respiration and
skin resistance as indication of emotional
disturbances especially of lying when questioned.
 This instrument does not detect lies. It can only
detect whether deceptive behavior is being
displayed.

 THOMAS JEFFERSON: first person known to use the

term polygraph to describe one of his
inventions which could repeatedly rewrite words
in 1790.

 POLYGRAPH EXAMINER
 The true professional title of a polygraph examiner
is forensic psychophysiologist.

TWO GENERAL TYPES:

1. Conventional Polygraph Instrument: the old and
traditional type of instrument being used in
polygraphy today.
  Records: Respiration, Galvanic Skin Response or
Electrodermal Response and Cardiovascular
Activity
2. Computerized Polygraph Instrument: a sophisticated
state of the art computer-aided polygraph
instrument. It collect and store physiological data
from the subject in the easiest way

USES OF POLYGRAPH
1. PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING: whereby some private
companies in the Philippines require their
applicants to undergo polygraph screening test. In
the United States, pre-employment is applicable only
to government agencies like FBI, CIA, Secret
Service, Department of Energy and the like.
Polygraph pre-employment test is prohibited due to
the changes made by the Employee Polygraph
Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA).

2. PERIODIC AUDIT: to determine the honesty and

integrity of the present employee with the company.
In the US, periodic testing is also prohibited in
private companies under the EPPA. However in other
countries including the Philippines, it is
applicable. According to some private companies,
both pre-employment and periodic polygraph testing
provide an effective preventive measure.

3. CASE INVESTIGATION: conducted in the field today

when there is an incident or issue under question.

4. PAIRED TESTING: conducted when there are two persons

who assert contradictory statement. In this test,
 both persons simultaneously undergo polygraph exam
in separate rooms with different examiners.

5. POST-CONVICTION SEX OFFENDER TESTING: conducted to

those convicted of sex crimes to monitor their
behavior while under parole or probation. Presently,
this provides effective monitoring procedures in the
filed today.

DEFINITION OF TERMS RELATED TO LIE DETECTION:

 LYING is the uttering or conveying falsehood or
creating false impressions affecting acts, opinions
or affections of another.
 DECEPTION is an act of deceiving or misleading
usually accomplished by lying.
 STIMULUS The force or motion reaching the organism
from the environment and excites the preceptors.
 LIE refers to uttering intentionally false
statement.
 DETECTION refers to the act of discovering the
existence, presence of facts of something hidden.
 LIE DETECTION refers to the method of detecting
deception.
 FEAR is an emotional response to scientific danger
that appears to beyond a person defensive power.
 CHART or POLYGRAMS refers to the composite records
of the pneumograph, galvanograph, and cardiograph
tracings recorded from series questions.

THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN BODY SYSTEM

THREE BODY ACTIVITIES RECORDED by the POLYGRAPH:

1. RESPIRATORY ACTIVITY is monitored by placing rubber
tubes across the examinee's chest.
2. ELECTRO DERMAL OR "SWEAT GLAND" ACTIVITY is recorded
by placing finger or palm electrodes.
3. CARDIOVASCULAR ACTIVITY is collected by a blood
pressure cuff or similar device.

A. THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS)

 Serving as the activator of the body system, the
CNS, thru the brain and all the nerve tissue,
receives, evaluates, integrates and stores any
stimulus brought to the body from the environment,
and at the same rate, the system send out message to
the various part and organs for a specific response.
 Two Divisions:
a) Somatic- voluntary muscles comparative over
skeletal muscles
b) Autonomic- involuntary physiological functions
 Parasympathetic: housekeeping or braking
system, responsible for conserving energy
and ensuring necessary bodily functions;
maintain homeostasis (state of internal
equilibrium)
 Sympathetic: emergency/ action system,
causes the sudden and dramatic changes; it
releases epinephrine and norepinephrine
hormones
Epinephrine: constrict peripheral
blood flow, raise body temperature,
increase cardiac activity, promote
metabolic activity and inhibit
digestive processes
 Norepinephrine: gives the body sudden
energy in times of stress, known as
the “fight and flight response”

B. THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (CS)

 The CS is responsible for the movement of the blood
in the veins and the arteries throughout the body.
 Giving life to the system is the Heart. It is a
hollow muscle located inside the chest cavity that
pumps blood into those arteries by contracting and
relaxing process.
 Four Chambers of the Heart:
The upper two chambers of which are the
Auricles and the lower two are the Ventricles.
a) Auricles: receive blood being returned to
the heart by the veins
b) Ventricles: receive blood from Auricles
and pump it out into the arteries.
 The heart action or the cardiac cycle consist of
Systole and Diastole, the two cycles begins with the
contraction of the Auricles (systole), and then
followed closely by the contraction of the left
Auricles, after a short pause, both Ventricles and
chambers contract. The contraption of each chamber
is followed by relaxation (diastole) and then by a
brief period of inactivity.

C. THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM (RS)

 responsible for the taking of air into the lungs and
also expelling carbon dioxide here from and the rest
of our body
 This system, like the nervous and circulatory is
equally important to lie detection. We know well
that we can live for 40 days or more without food;
 we can survive for 3 days without water, but we die
within minutes without oxygen. Its function is
automatic, it consist of the following major parts;
 Respiratory tract: comprises the nose and
mouth, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and
lungs
 Bony-cage: includes the thoracic vertebrate,
the ribs and the breast bone or the sternum

 THE BREATHING CAPACITY

 An adult at rest with normal inhalation about
500 cc of air. A less similar amount is also
exhaled.
 This goes out and flow of air is called Tidal
Air Respiration. In addition to the tidal air,
we can inhale another 1,500 cc of air called
Complemental Air.
 After normal expiration, a similar amount is
exhaled called the Supplemental Air.
 The combination of Tidal, Complemental and
Supplemental airs is called “Vital Capacity” of
human life.
 In short, an average person can then breathe in
about 2,000 cc of air and can expel about 3,500
cc.

 For the purpose of reference and chart reading or

interpretation, the following serves as the average
breathing pattern:
 New-born: 50-70 cycles per minute;
 Children (1-5 years old): 20-30 cycles per
minute; and
  Adults (without age consideration): 15-20
cycles per minute.

 As a result, it should be noted that men are

considered Deep Breathers, they breathe up to their
stomach, while women are Shallow Breathers, and they
breathe up to their chest.

D. THE EXCRETORY SYSTEM (ES)

 The skin is defined as the external covering of the
body consisting essentially of the epidermis,
dermis, and the corium. The anatomical compositions
of the epidermis have 4 layers of the stratified
epithelium, while the corium is composed of
connective tissue containing lymphatic nerves and
nerve ending, blood vessels, sebaceous and sweat
glands and elastic fibers.
 The Skin’s Basic Functions:
a. Protection against injuries and parasitic
invasions.
b. Regulation of body temperature.
c. An aid in the elimination of bodily waste
products.

 GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE/REFLEX (GSR) TESTS: record

changes in subject’s increase or decrease resistance
to a constant electrical current generated through
the amplifier, recording of this response comes from
the stimuli causing a change in sweat glands
activity. The theory behind it is that it applies
the fingers, hands and palms, forehead, armpits,
anus area and the bottom of the feet as target
areas, Sweat varies according to different
circumstances; such as muscular exercises, nausea,
pain, mental excitement, nervousness, asthma, and
other diseases, including certain drugs which
somehow affect activity. Temperature and humidity
affect the sweat glands. Cold environment decreases
sweating, exchange urination and dehydration.