NCJ Number
172192
Journal
Polygraph Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (1998) Pages: 45-48
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Using live U.S. Army polygraph cases conducted following positive urinalysis for marijuana and cocaine, this study compared the polygraph decisions with the chemical drug tests.
Abstract
The author conducted a pilot study of 111 examinees, all U.S. Army personnel who had tested positive for marijuana or cocaine or both. All had requested exculpatory examinations. All of the examinations were conducted by one of the 40 U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command forensic psychophysiologists. All of the exculpatory examination charts and reports were sent to the U.S. Army Crime Records Center for quality control review. All of the examinations were conducted on standard analog field instruments that simultaneously record cardiovascular (heart rate and blood volume), electrodermal (resistance or conductance), and respiratory (thoracic and abdominal activity). Assuming that the urinalysis was correct, there was a 1-percent false-negative rate for the polygraph. It was not possible to disengage the effects of the testing examiners' knowledge of the urinalysis results; however, an independent quality-control process supported the decisions. The potential and limitations of generalization are discussed. 2 tables and 2 references