...After conducting "independent research", present arguments either in favor of or condemning the use of the "polygraph" as either an investigative tool or its admissibility in court. Should the polygraph even be available as an "investigative tool"? I do not believe polygraph test results should be admissible in a court of law as evidence. I am however somewhat in favor of using the test as an investigative tool by law enforcement, as long as it cannot be used in any legal way against a person and with special restrictions for its use. In the state of Texas, polygraph results are not admissible into a court of law; however, if a legally obtained confession is obtained during the course of a post-test interview, the examiner in some cases will be subpoenaed to testify as to the details of that confession under oath. There are too many variables when it comes to the instrument and examiner to make the test reliable. The instrument itself must be working properly, the examiner must be properly trained to ask the proper questions in the right way and the examinee must be willing to participate to even have a modicum of accuracy. If people are ill, on medications, elderly, under the influence of alcohol, mentally challenged or unbalanced or even obese, the results could be skewed. The polygraph has failed on numerous occasions. It failed to catch Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer”. He passed the test in 1984 and then confessed 20 years later to killing dozens of women...
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...Polygraph (Lie Detector) Tests Name of Student Name of University Polygraph (Lie Detector) Tests Employee Polygraph Protection Act Employee Polygraph Protection Act outlawed the use of polygraph or lie detector tests in connection with employment. The Act covers private employers in security businesses and those who authorized to distribute controlled substances (Carper, 2011). However, the Act does not apply on state, federal, and local employers of Government and those work in handling sensitive information related to national defense. Under the law, it is not legal for any private company to suggest or require any employee to submit polygraph tests. The Act does not allow accepting or inquiring the results of polygraph tests conducted on employees. It prohibits private companies from dismissal, discrimination, and even threatening the employees who rejects to take polygraph tests. Conditions for Using Polygraph Tests The federal law allows using the polygraph tests in connection with employment in drugs handling and investigating suspected crime or specific theft. However, employers must sent a written notice to the employees before 48 hours of conducting polygraph tests as part of an employment-related crime or an investigation (Grubin, 2005). The employers must have reasonable and provable suspicion of involving employees in theft or any other investigation. Limitations on Polygraph Tests The Employers must act...
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...Exploration of a Professional Journal Article in Psychology XXX Prof. Philena DeVaughn PSY100 November 7th, 2013 Assignment 1: Exploration of a Professional Journal Article in Psychology In a study done by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and the University of Portsmouth, UK, researchers conducted a live study in which 60 people were asked their travel destinations (Vrij, A., Granhag, P., Mann, S., & Leal, S., 2011). The purpose of the test is whether to see if the people interviewed, both asked to tell the truth and lie about their travel plans, was to see how well the researchers could effectively distinguish if the person was or was not telling the truth. Normally, to distinguish if people are telling the truth or not, a Polygraph machine is used but the machine requires a lot of set up and controlled conditions. However, for this new sort of research, the researchers would be on the lookout for the following dependent variables: length of the response, amount of detail, plausibility, contradictions, and spontaneous corrections. The initial testing was done at the departure gates of the airport in which people were asked where they were heading to and what their plans were. Then the people tested were asked to conduct further research by bringing in a second researcher answer some more questions about their trip. The second researcher however did not know any individuals plans before being brought in. Half the people were asked to tell the truth, 29 people, to the...
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...THE LIE DETECTOR BY, ALMITA JOHN 0981090 VENKATA LAKSHMI SAILAJA CHAVALI 0982874 OBJECTIVES ▶ To create a sensing device modeled after a polygraph test ▶ Test would incorporate results from several physiological sensors ▶ Create a Labview program to gather and analyze subject data POLYGRAPH THEORY ▶ Polygraphs ▶ Heart measure: rate ▶ Respiratory ▶ Blood ▶ Arm rate pressure and leg motion ▶ Electrodermal activity LIE DETECTION ▶ 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. Manufacturers of lie Detectors ▶ Lie detector manufacturer Nemesysco ▶ Lafayette Instrument Company ▶ Axciton Systems ▶ Limestone Technologies Inc. ▶ Stoelting Company Evolution ▶ From the onset of civilization:there has been a compelling need to determine the truthfulness of individuals when transgressions have occurred. ▶ Over the centuries: there have been many efforts to refine the rule of ‘two or more witnesses’ with additional methods of truth verification. An example of this would be circa 500 B.C. in India Evolution conti.. ▶ The first recorded effort: In 1885 Lombroso was recording changes in blood pressure in police cases in Italy with some...
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...University of Phoenix Material Employment Laws Chart Complete the chart below using information from the weekly readings and additional research if necessary. Employment Law | Description and Requirement of Law | Court Case Influential to Establishment of Law | Importance of Law | Workplace Application | Civil Rights Act of 1964 | The landmark legislation in the US that holds against discrimination against racial, ethnic, national, and religious minorities. | Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964) is a US case law the US Congress has power to use the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to force businesses to follow the Civil Rights Act of 1964. | This law ends the unequal application of racial segregation in the workplaces or public facilities. | Because the US Supreme Court ruled Congress did not have the power to prohibit discrimination in private facilities or workplaces, it holds businesses must allow customer business from all races. | Equal Employment Opportunity Act | It ensures the fair treatment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, or gender. | In Trans World Airlines v. Thurston (1985), the court holds that airlines must give the same opportunity to retiring pilots as it had given to younger disabled pilots. | This law is to ensure discrimination in employment is illegal. | All employees and applicants for employment are covered under this legislation. This law is to eliminate discrimination practices in workplace. | Equal Pay...
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...Polygraphs as Truth or Lies Thanks to the abundance of police dramas on television, people have begun to believe that a polygraph test is infallible. Many studies, as well as a Supreme Court case, have since revealed that the veracity of polygraphs is far from impeccable. Also, there are few if any credible sources that support the veracity of polygraph machines. As Dr. Saxe and Israeli psychologist Gershon Ben-Shahar (1999) notes, "it may, in fact, be impossible to conduct a proper validity study." In real-world situations, it's very difficult to know what the truth is.” (American Psychological Association [APA], 2004) Polygraphs do not function as a lie detector. A polygraph only directly measures the autonomic responses of the subject. It measures reactions such as changes in skin conductance, pulse rate, blood pressure, and breathing while the subject is asked a series of questions. From that data, it makes an indirect assumption that positive physiological responsive indicate dishonesty and vice versa. When taking a polygraph test, proctors use several different tactics to elicit responses from their subjects. One is called the "relevant-irrelevant" technique, which mixes questions like "Did you steal the money?" in with questions like "Is today Tuesday?" Questions that are relevant to the topic are suppose to cause a jump within the subject’s autonomic system and in turn would produce results on the polygraph. Another tactic that is commonly used is "comparison questions"...
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...ch y Psychology can assist law enforcement by profiling criminal suspects assessing in truthfulness of suspects and evaluating the validity of their confessions. Psychological theory and techniques can be used to improve police officers evaluations of criminal suspects. * Profiling is usually performed at the beginning of criminal investigation when the police need help focusing on certain types of people who might be the suspect * Once a suspect has been identified law enforcement officials use other procedures to determine whether any of them should be charged. * Police look for visual and verbal cues to determine whether they are giving truthful responses Suspects are sometimes given a lie detector test to encourage them to confess. * The tests provide more information about their guilt or innocence. * They conflict with some psychological findings about their accuracy. * Sometimes they are submitted into evidence. * Many psychologists question the validity of the test. The police interrogate suspects and encourage them to confess because the confessions make it more likely that suspects will successfully prosecute and eventually convicted the suspects. Psychological finding often conflict with the courts evaluations of a voluntary confession. There is some evidence psychological characteristics are linked to behavioral patterns and they can be detected by a psychological analysis of crime scenes. * Criminal profiling is used to...
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...of Polygraph tests, Narco-anlaysis test and Brain-mapping test in reference to Selvi’s case Before answering these questions, it is necessary to examine the evolution and specific uses of the impugned techniques. Hence, a description of each of the test procedures is followed by an overview of their possible uses, both within and outside the criminal justice system. It is also necessary to gauge the limitations of these techniques. Polygraph Examination The origin of polygraph examination have been traced back to the efforts of Lombroso, a criminologist who experimented with a machine that measured blood pressure and pulse to assess the honesty of persons suspected of criminal conduct. His device was called a hydrosphygmograph. The theory behind polygraph tests is that when a subject is lying in response to a question, he/she will produce physiological responses that are different from those that arise in the normal course. During the polygraph examination, several instruments are attached to the subject for measuring and recording the physiological responses. The examiner then reads these results, analyzes them and proceeds to gauge the credibility of the subject's answers. Instruments such as cardiographs, pneumographs, cardio-cuffs and sensitive electrodes are used in the course of polygraph examinations. They measure changes in various aspects such as respiration, blood pressure, blood flow, pulse and galvanic skin resistance. There are three prominent polygraph examination...
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...article, imagining a world where one could see through to the truth. “Human society would be orderly, boring and as alien as an anthill,” he notes. If only there was a machine to read others’ minds… There is such a machine, but to some extent, can only measure anxiety, taken to mean as a lie. This machine, the polygraph, also known as the “lie detector”, only can hint whether a subject is lying. Critics say that the polygraph is flawed because of false positives (an honest answer is mistaken for a lie) and false negatives (a lie is overlooked as a truth). Furthermore, the polygraph is not permitted to use as evidence in the legal system; the National Research Council even called the device “blunt”. There must be a better way to achieve successful end results in looking at others’ thought processes. Ross names famous philosophers and scientists investigating the same problem. Greek philosopher Diogenes went about his life carrying a lamp to look for an honest man in what he thought was a corrupt society. Ross argues that instead of looking for clues of deception on the outside of one’s body (like sweating or breathing irregularly, as found in the polygraph), it is better to look inside one’s brain. There you can not only tell a truth from a lie, but look at how one solves a simple math problem step by step. A scientist who investigates this further is J. Peter Rosenfeld who observed an interesting feature in the EEG (electroencephalograph; chart of brain’s electrical...
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...Methods of Lie Detection Samuel Medina Housatonic Community College Abstract This research paper will cover a few different aspects of Lie Detection. Through the knowledge gathered from 5 journal articles the reader will learn of different methods of lie detection as well as some real life applications and the possibilities of lie detection in the near future. The areas that the 5 journal articles touch upon are the Cognitive load approach, the use of the polygraph and its controversies, the behavioral differences when using a person’s first or second language, the use of fMRI and the potential future of fMRI technology and last but not least some of the application of lie detection in our world today and potential for even more efficient and less intrusive methods of lie detection. Methods of Lie Detection In today’s society technology is at the fore-front of almost every aspect of life. In one particular area technology has created a new path of discovery for society to explore. Lie detection is a subject widely used in different ways throughout law enforcement and is becoming implemented in many different ways in our society today. Lie detection is being used in court rooms all over the world to solidify verdicts proved in the court rooms. There are a few methods of lie detection used in and outside of the court rooms but not all are allowed in the court rooms because of certain controversies. Of course with every...
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...1. Please explain the Frye Standard. The Frye Standard is a standard used to determine the admissibility of an expert’s scientific testimony. A court in which applies the Frye Standard must determine whether or not the method which the evidence was obtained was generally accepted by experts in the field in which it belongs. 2. When did this standard come into effect and why? He Frye Standard came out of a 1923 legal decision (Frye V United States). It was a case discussing the admissibility of a polygraph test. James Frye was convicted of murder and first admitted his guilt then recanted his confession. The Frye Standard came when they tried to convict on a polygraph test which is not admissible as guilt in the court of law. The Frye Standard is now that all evidence must determine admissibility of an expert in his or her field. 3. Please explain when a forensic expert witness would have to attend a Daubert hearing. 4. What is a Daubert hearing? A Daubert hearing is when a counsel objects to a testimony or an expert in general. This hearing usually takes place before a trial and out of a jury’s presence. It is a hearing for a judge to determine if the testimony is an expert in his or her field. 5. What does it mean that the judge is the “keeper”? The judge has the final motion to determine if the testimony truly proceeds from scientific knowledge. 6. What would some tests for establishing "validity" be? The judge will determine if the expert has testified...
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...POLYGRAPHY INTRODUCTION: The idea of using a polygraph for lie detection emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. Despite major technological advances in the twentieth century, the polygraph has evolved little since its invention. The polygraph works under the assumption that lies can be detected by certain measurable physiological changes, a theory proposed more than 100 years ago. The three physiological vectors measured in polygraphs in the 1920s cardiovascular, respiratory and perspiratory activities are still measured by modern polygraphs. Although the polygraph is still widely used, critics question its accuracy because of the subjectivity involved in the test. Recent technological breakthroughs have created new machines for lie detection. However, since many of these new technologies still operate under questionable assumptions, they are still prone to error and misinterpretation. Perhaps one of the most fascinating and misunderstood tools of the criminal justice and criminology industry is the polygraph exam, more commonly known as the lie detector test. While the tests are based on relatively simple scientific principles, not just anyone can strap you up to an instrument and start firing away with questions. Lie detector tests are instead conducted by highly trained and disciplined technicians, known as polygraph examiners. LIE DETECTION AND FORENSIC PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY * Lie Detection * It is also referred to as deception detection which uses questioning...
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...A polygraph records changes in respiration, electro dermal responses and cardiovascular activities (Elaad, 1998). Also known as a lie detector, which assess and records four major components that include heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and skin conductivity (Patrick, C. J., 1989). Electrolytes released on the skin surface during perspiration lowers the electrolytic resistance to the skin, thus increasing electro-dermal activity. Lying can cause changes in heart rate, breathing rate, and electro dermal activity. These responses can be stimulated by involuntary stress responses detecting in increase in the secreting of electrolytes or the increase sweat being secreted by sweat glands on the skin thus measuring the emotional connectivity and stress responses to the environment in...
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...You Be The Judge 11.1, page 288 In a boundary dispute over the location of an underground spring, plaintiff calls a dowser to testify that he dowsed plaintiff's land and estimates a spring flowing approximately 500 feet beneath the surface. 1. Does this testimony constitute scientific knowledge? No, dowsing is not recognizes to be effective in the scientific community. 2. Should it be admitted under the Frye test? No, this would not be admitted under the Frye test because it has not gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs. 3. Should it be admitted under the Daubert test? No, the judge to allow admittance the court requires the expert to tie there assessment to known scientific conclusions. Explain your reasoning. Dowsing is not recognized in the scientific community, it was the ancient art of finding things, there is no scientific evidence to prove that dowsing is effective. For it to be admitted under Frye it must be sufficiently established and have gained general acceptance under the scientific community. Under the Daubert Standard even though the dowser might have specialized knowledge in dowsing it can not be admitted because it does not contain facts or data that have been proven and accepted in the scientific field. The testimony must be based on reliable principle and methods. It is the role of the trial judge to ensure relevance and reliable scientific evidence to allow the testimony to be admissible. The testimony of the Dowser...
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...Evidence suggests that the investigation of crimes occurred as far back as prehistoric times when early man took fingerprints by pressing hands and fingers into clay or rock. In Nova Scotia, archaeologists uncovered an ancient drawing of the detailed ridge patterns of a hand. Additionally, the ancient Babylonians also made use of fingerprinting on clay tablets for business transactions and as a means to preserve identification for other official needs. Forensic science continued to evolve, and in 700 B.C., the Chinese began to record thumb prints on clay sculpture and documents despite having no formal classification system was in place. In 250 B.C., an ancient Greek physician, Erasistratus, created the first lie detector test when he noted that his patients' pulse rate appeared to increase when they lied. In 44 B.C., a Roman doctor examined Julius Caesar's body and discovered that of his 23 stab wounds, only one was fatal. The 1100 A.D., crime scene investigation had improved to such a degree that Roman attorney Quintilian proved that blood-covered palm prints were left at a crime scene to frame a blind man for the murder of his mother. Nearly 150 years later, in 1248 AD, the first documentation of medical knowledge aimed at solving crimes was recorded in the book "Hsi Duan Yu" (the Washing Away of Wrong). It detailed the process of distinguishing drowning from strangulation. Over the next 500 years, advancements in crime scene investigation focused on the many aspects...
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