NCJ Number
76073
Journal
Journal of Applied Psychology Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1979) Pages: 316-322
Date Published
1979
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The results of an investigation to assess the value of physiological measures in detecting guilt, to examine the effect of individual personality differences in guilt detection results, and to examine the effect of repeated use on the effectiveness of polygraph detections are reported.
Abstract
A total of 18 males who scored high on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Pd (psychopathic deviate) scale and 16 males who scored low on the Pd scale took an intelligence test in which they were encouraged to cheat by confederates posing as other subjects. The participants were then given lie detection tests based on skin resistance, heart rate, and finger pulse volume and information about the seriousness of cheating on the test. About 50 percent of the subjects cheated. Results of the polygraph tests indicated that only skin resistance was effective in detecting guilt. The procedure was only effective the first time it was used; subsequent administrations of the test were not successful in identifying cheaters. There were no differences in detection rates among subjects with high and low Pd scores. Only lie detection mechanisms using electrodermal techniques should be used in the detection of guilt. Graphs, tabular data, and 26 references are included. (Author abstract modified)