FORENSIC PSYCH CH 4

LO 1: Describe what the polygraph is, its uses, and two types of polygraph tests.
LO 2: Describe the research and scientific opinion about the polygraph.
LO 3: Describe physiologically based alternatives to the polygraph, including event-related brain potentials and functional brain-imaging techniques.
LO 4: Outline the verbal and nonverbal characteristics of deception, including research on the detection of high-stakes lies.
LO 5: Define disorders of deception and summarize the three explanatory models of malingering.
LO 6: Differentiate between the types of studies used to examine malingering and summarize research on malingered psychosis.

Profile:
- Dimitri Adonis, 52-year-old offender serving six years for aggravated assault.
- Long history of criminal behavior, fourth prison sentence.
Symptoms Reported:
- Complains of increasing feelings of depression and suicidal ideation.
- Lack of appetite and problems with sleep.
- Demanding about medication for depression.
Behavioral Observations:
- Joking and laughing with other offenders when he's not observed by the psychiatrist.
- Seen asking for snacks outside meal times.
- Overheard bragging about faking depression to seek hospitalization.

Deception detection is crucial in various contexts, such as police interrogations, psychological evaluations, and job interviews.
Various techniques and methods are employed by psychologists and law enforcement to detect deception.

Definition:
- A polygraph (from Greek poly = “many” and grapho = “write”) records an individual's autonomic nervous system responses.
Components of the Polygraph:
- Breathing measured from devices on the upper chest and abdomen.
- Skin conductance measured by electrodes on fingertips (skin conductance response).
- Heart rate measured by a partially inflated blood pressure cuff on the arm.
Usage Context:
- Used in forensic cases to evaluate responses to relevant questions in investigations.
- Polygraph training in Canada is restricted to police, military, and intelligence personnel through a 10-week intensive course.

Used in criminal investigations by police to resolve cases.
Occasionally used on crime victims to verify narratives.
Employed by insurance companies to assess claims.
Used to monitor sexual offenders on probation and disclose knowledge of past behavior.

Comparison Question Test (CQT):
- Procedure: Includes irrelevant questions and relevant questions alongside comparison questions focusing on honesty and past history.
- Typical outcomes: Truthful, deceptive, and inconclusive results.
- CQT assumes innocent suspects will react more to comparison questions, and guilty suspects will react more to relevant questions.
Concealed Information Test (CIT):
- Assesses whether the suspect knows certain details about a crime that only the perpetrator would know.
- Uses multiple-choice questions with only one correct option related to the crime.
- Measures physiological responses to gauge knowledge of critical details.

Polygraph studies are classified into laboratory and field studies.
Laboratory Studies: Conduct mock crimes with controlled conditions.
Field Studies: Investigate real-life cases with actual suspects; however, establishing ground truth is challenging.
Findings suggest high correct classification rates for guilty suspects (84-92%) but lower for innocent suspects (55-78%), indicating a false-positive rate of 9-24% for innocent individuals.

The CQT remains controversial with an ongoing debate over its accuracy due to its high false-positive rate.
The CIT is effective at identifying guilty knowledge but less frequently employed in North America.

Research (Honts et al., 1994) shows it is possible to learn how to beat polygraph tests using countermeasures.

Event-Related Brain Potentials (ERPs):
- Measure electrical patterns in the brain using scalp electrodes, with potential to resist manipulation.
- P300 component identified in responses to significant, infrequent stimuli.
- Research indicates potential success rates varying widely in different studies.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI):
- Measures cerebral blood flow associated with deception.
- Shows promise in differentiating deceptive responses, but not extensively validated in real-world scenarios.

Common Cues:
- Verbal behaviors: Speech fillers, voice pitch, and rate of speech.
- Nonverbal behaviors: Facial expressions, gaze direction, and fidgeting behaviors.
Research suggests nonverbal behaviors can be controlled more easily than verbal, yielding a truth-bias in detection.
High-stakes lies can yield greater chances for accurate detection due to increased emotional stakes.

Disorders related to deception encompass intentional and unintentional symptom production.
Types of Disorders:
- Conversion Disorder: Neurological symptoms not intentionally produced, no external motivations.
- Factitious Disorder: Symptoms intentionally produced without external reward.
- Malingering: Faking symptoms for external gains such as avoidance of punishment or financial benefits, such as disability claims.

Pathogenic Model: Suggests underlying mental disorder motivates malingering.
Criminological Model: Suggests bad individuals in bad situations malinger to avoid consequences.
Adaptational Model: Proposes that stressful circumstances or high stakes prompt malingering behavior.

Case Study: Useful for generating hypotheses regarding rare syndromes but limited in rigorous testing.
Simulation Design: Participants feign symptoms in controlled settings to analyze detection methods.
Known Groups Design: Compares genuine patients against malingerers to establish effective detection methodologies.

The true incidence of malingered psychosis is unknown; studies indicate varying rates of diagnosis among different samples.
Criteria for identifying malingering psychosis include examination of symptomatology contrasts between genuine patients and those feigning symptoms.

Despite advancements in polygraphy and alternative detection methods, accurately identifying deceit remains intricate due to the complexities of human behavior and psychological motivations behind deception.