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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 5
PRINCIPLES OF POLYGRAPH
PSYCHOLOGY OF LYING
 Remember that a lying person fears detection and possible exclusion by the offended community.
 He/she may feel that once detected, he/she could not but to accept the bitter results of being
penalized.
 This placing his/her whole life at stake since fear reaction carries emotional responses due to
detection, he/she may now exhibit external or internal response within him, such that these
changes occur beyond his/her defensive power to control or repress them.
 These changes, on the other hand are recorded by the polygraph instrument and diagnosed by
the examiner.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LYING PERSON

 A person’s fear, like anxieties, apprehension channeled toward the situation which evoke his/her
instinct of self-preservation to struggle out from the consequences of the wrong he had already
done.
 That self-defense mechanism come what may thru lies, alibis and excuses.
 His/her conscience is bothered so much on how to hide everything beyond one’s all of his/her
senses, and his/her will power and emotions are confused and varied.
 In Polygraphy, the psychological approach to all these lies or similar situations are governed by
different types of test and control questions prepared and formulated by the examiner. The test
contains relevant questions which are designed to pose a threat to the security of the guilty
subject. The equally truthful subject, through accused is assured of the reactions that may exhibit
during the whole polygraph examination by the careful formulated questions.
 Other factors psychologically taken into consideration are subject’s basic emotionality and
intensity of the offense. Normally, the innocent subject’s reaction potential is lower than that of
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guilty subject. This registered by temporary heightening of his/her emotional state when the
examination began, then such reaction decreases as the test itself progresses.

VERBAL CLUES of LYING NON-VERBAL CLUES OF LYING

 Methods of responding to the questions  Emblems
 Length of time before giving response  Manipulators
 Repetition of Questions  Breathing
 Defragmented or incomplete sentences  Sweating
 Being overly polite  Frequent Swallowing
 Oaths  Facial Muscles
 Clarity of Response  Eyes
 Use of words  Face
 Assertiveness
 Inconsistencies
 Slip of the Tongue
 Tirades
 Pauses
 Speed of Speech

SEVEN COMMON SIGNS of LYING

1. No eye contact. Generally, if someone is lying they will not look you in the eye, at least during a
certain part of the conversation. Normally, people make eye contact for at least half of a
conversation, so anything less than this could be suspicious.
2. Change in voice. A change in the pitch of a person's tone, or a lot of stammering (umm, ah), or
throat clearing could indicate a lie.
3. Unusual body language. If a person taps their foot a lot, fidgets with their hands, raises their
shoulders, turns away from you or brings their hand to their face (to touch their chin or nose,
etc.) -- in other words, if they act nervous or uncomfortable -- it could mean they're telling a lie.
Also watch out for blushing (or becoming pale) and increased blinking.
4. Something sounds fishy. Making statements that contradict each other, are inconsistent or don't
sound quite right are usually part of a lie.
5. Overly defensive. Sometimes when a person is lying they will become extremely defensive,
refusing to answer any questions and even accusing you of lying.
6. Changes subject easily. If someone is lying and you change the subject, chances are high that
they'll go right along with it. A person telling the truth, however, will likely ask why you changed
the subject and want to go back to it.
7. Humor or sarcasm. A guilty person will often try to change the subject using humor or sarcasm.
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THEORY OF LIE DETECTION

a. It must be recognized that there is no such thing as an instrument that will detect lies. The popular
name Lie Detector, given to a collection of certain medical instruments, is somewhat misleading. No
collection of non-living objects including the very finest and complicated modern computers, can detect
lies on the part of any human being.

b. The students can understandably ask, “Well, what does this called lie detector do? The answer to that
question is that the lie detector records certain physiological activities of the body. These activities are
constantly in operation as long as the person is alive. The student is aware that the most common lie
detectors record a breathing pattern of inspiration and expiration, a continuous pattern of relative blood
pressure and pulse rate, and pattern of electro dermal activity.

c. It is well known that the body adapts itself as efficiently as possible to its environment. If the
environment changes, the body will rapidly adjust itself to these new changes. This is done by a
complicated system of internal checks and balance primarily involving the autonomic nervous system.
This ability to adjust is necessary if the organism or body is to survive in a constantly changing world.
Those organisms that cannot adjust rapidly die out.

d. With the understanding, it will be easy to follow the theory of lie detection. When person is being
examined on the lie detector, all of the previously mentioned physiological activities are being recorded
simultaneously. The examiner asks the subject a number of questions. If any of the questions are
considered by the subject to be threatening to his person, the subject’s body must automatically readjust
to a change in environment. As you see in the mind of the subject the situation changes from a calm,
relatively well-ordered situation to an environmental change involving threat to his well-being. The
physiological activities recorded by the lie detector will then change or readjust. It is these changes that
the trained lie detector operator can utilize in detecting possible deceptions.

THEORY OF POLYGRAPH
A. Psychological Theory of a Lie: Emotional changes occur in a person causing physiological
changes that can be recognized and diagnosed.
B. Psychological Set of a Lie: A person's fears, anxieties and apprehensions are focused (directed)
to the areas that hold (Poses) the greatest threat to his well-being or self.
C. Psychology of Test Questions: The test is structured so as to pose a threat to the security of
both the innocent and guilty subject and force him/her to focus (direct) his/her attention to that
specific area of the test.
 Fear is the greatest psychological factor - Fear of being detected of an untruth.