FACT SHEET:The Polygraph
Proiect Psihologie Judiciară ID AN II, Studenți: Bora Octavian Vasile, Costa Răzvan Daniel,
Derda Adriana, Tarr Krisztina Anett
What is a polygraph?
Lying is a recurrent human behavior that can
have a devastating impact on relationships,
societies, employment, criminal justice, politics,
public health, and national security. In 1921 the
first polygraph was created by a policeman and
physiologist named John A. Larson who
designed a device that measured variations in
heart rate, pulse rate, and respiratory rate to
assist in the identification of dishonesty.
Polygraph tests are psychological tests that are
used worldwide as a screening tool, as forensic
tests in investigations and in legal proceedings.
But what does a polygraph measure? In an
extreme simple way to explain we could say it
measures the response to a stimulus, meaning
that when a stimulus is present, it
observes/measures the responses (physiological
responses, involving the respiratory,
cardiovascular, and integumentary systems, in
addition to somatic activity in skeletal muscle,
responses that are associated with arousal in the
autonomic nervous system) in an attempt to
detect a lie (Winkler-Galicki et al., 2022). The
test should take place in private conditions, with
no disruption; the examined person needs to
understand the language and all the questions
asked. The main test takes place after the pre-
test interview and demonstration test.
Only “yes” or “no” answers are allowed, and
questions should be close to the true/false mode,
simple, easy to understand, direct, should not
lead to incorrect answers. The final talk takes
place when the test is over and does not inform
the participant about the result, but about the
validity of the test.
Polygraph accuracy
The validity and legitimacy of the polygraph
tests has been a subject of multiple studies
throughout the years. One aspect that the studies
related to deception indicate is that there isn’t
any evidence to correlate a specific pattern of
physiological responses to a stimulus that
induces deception. Therefore, polygraph
accuracy should be regarded as being dependent
on sensitivity, specificity, error, and descriptive
forms for each individual case (Nelson, 2015).
An important mention is that, due to its
empirical limitations and to the fact that the
settings in which the polygraph can give
accurate results, are not tied to the real world,
nowadays it is not considered that the results of
a polygraph test can be generalized
(Synnott et al., 2015)
. Therefore, we should not take the
results of a polygraph test as an absolute
meaning, contrary to what is promoted in
movies.
A fact that the common person needs to be
aware of, is that before each polygraph testing,
there will be an interview that explains how the
procedure works and what the test is. This
specific preparation can induce the idea that any
deception will be detected, and, in the end, it can
shape the emotional state of the person,
therefore increasing the accuracy of the tests, but
not really representing the reality
(Synnott et al., 2015)
. you are dealing with a novice examiner, but
Are polygraph tests reliable? Why or
why not?
The contemporary approach agrees that
polygraph tests improve the chance of detecting
deception and aid in the process discerning
between truth and lie, but at the same time they
are aware of the shortcomings of the
method
(Honts et al., 2021a; Rutbeck-Goldman, 2017)
:
- Measures can be taken to reduce the rate
of deception identification.
- The identification of a small number of
lies can have a hie false-negative yield,
therefore making the tests not viable.
- The test procedure does not follow the
real-life scenarios.
- Most evidence in the support of
polygraph tests comes from laboratory-
controlled environments.
Having all those mentions in mind, the general
answer would be: It depends. The polygraph
tests are dependable only in certain contexts,
where certain, specific, tests are conducted and
when the purpose is not to decisively attest to
the presence of deception. In many real-life
contexts, the tests might be affected by the way
the tests were conducted, the emotional state of
the person, the underlying physiological
conditions.
Can you trick a polygraph?
Organizations, such as the American
Psychological Association, claim that most of
the people who have “beaten” the exam have a
misapprehension of what beating means. Some
believe that if the results are inconclusive, it has
been beaten. However, that does not mean they
have been able to successfully lie; it only means
there is no conclusion either way. This will
usually lead to a re-test request.
On this regard the experience of the examinator
is quite important. It is possible to beat the test if
close to impossible if you are dealing with an
experienced one (Honts et al., 2021b).
The acknowledged tactics for beating a
polygraph machine are to carefully control the
breathing, and to artificially increase the heart
rate during the so-called "probable lies" or
"control questions." These include questions
people are likely to lie about such as, "Have you
ever stolen money?" "Have you ever lied to your
parents?" "Have you ever cheated on a test?" or
"Have you ever taken something of value from
an employer?"
If one can produce self-pain (like biting the
tongue) or engage into complex math calculation
this could lead to an increase in the blood
pressure, breathing, and sweat production, and
the polygrapher will attribute these responses to
a strong reaction to lying.
Then, if the same person would lie in response
to a relevant question, and the physical response
would be less than it was to the control
questions, the answer would be interpreted as
the truth.
The main idea in beating the lie detector is to
have a high ability in controlling the
psychological responses of the body.
Final Comments
The idea that we need to have in mind when
referring to polygraph tests is that while they
might give some accurate information, they are
not decisive in any decision-making process.
The reality presented in movies is different from
the factual one, where a polygraph test can only
be valid in certain, controlled circumstances.
While the general idea is that a polygraph test
can be tricked, we need to keep in mind that this
is not an easy feat and that it does not mean the
 end of the testing, but only the change of the
methodology.

References
Honts, C. R., Thurber, S., & Handler, M. (2021a). A
comprehensive meta-analysis of the
comparison question polygraph test. Applied
Cognitive Psychology, 35(2), 411–427.
https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3779

Honts, C. R., Thurber, S., & Handler, M. (2021b). A

comprehensive meta-analysis of the comparison
question polygraph test. Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 35(2), 411–427.
https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3779
Nelson, R. (2015). Scientific Basis for Polygraph
Testing (Issue 1).
Rutbeck-Goldman, A. (2017). An “Unfair and Cruel
Weapon”: Consequences of Modern-Day
Polygraph Use in Federal Pre-Employment
Screening Recommended Citation. In C. Irvine
L. Rev.
Synnott, J., Dietzel, D., & Ioannou, M. (2015). A
review of the polygraph: history, methodology
and current status. Crime Psychology Review,
1(1), 59–83.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23744006.2015.1060080
Winkler-Galicki, J., Bartkowiak-Wieczorek, J.,
Synowiec, D., Dąbrowska, R., & Mądry, E.
(2022). Polygraph analyses: technical and
practical background. Journal of Medical
Science, 91(1), e590.
https://doi.org/10.20883/medical.e590