NCJ Number
204211
Journal
Polygraph Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: 2003 Pages: 201-210
Date Published
2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the factors that influence the accuracy and utility of multiple-issue polygraph (MIP) testing.
Abstract
The main value of MIP is to uncover certain types of concealed past behaviors where there is very little information regarding the existence or prevalence of those behaviors among the examinee population. The three most common applications of MIP's are applicant testing, sex offender monitoring, and counterintelligence screening. MIP's encourage forthrightness, the willingness to volunteer information regarding socially proscribed acts committed in the past, and verifies the presence or absence of several behaviors. This method of deception testing has much in common with medical screening used to identify individuals in a community that harbors a very harmful disease. Following the medical screening model, it is possible to increase the efficacy of multiple-issue polygraph screening using the successive hurdles approach. One of the principles of the successive hurdles approach that permits it to incrementally increase the accuracy of decisions is that a different method is used at each hurdle. For this method to be effective, the initial screening test must be sensitive to deception, even though there will be some truthful examinees that will find themselves being given additional testing along with the deceptive examinees. When an examinee is found truthful to the screening phase, the polygraph decision will be negative, or its equivalent. When an examinee has not passed the screening phase, more discussion and testing are warranted, followed by testing with questions of narrower scope. When it is necessary to do follow up testing after a screening test, it is best to use a different technique. Changing techniques can minimize the carryover of the same errors from screening to diagnostic phases, and also make countermeasures more difficult for the examinee to conceal. 2 figures, 1 table, 2 footnotes, 12 references