Meta-analysis of mock crime studies of the control question polygraph technique

A review of results obtained from standard guilty and innocent treatment conditions in 14 mock crime studies of the control question polygraph technique revealed accuracies ranging from chance to 100% correct. The present study examined several factors that may have contributed to the observed variability in detection rates across studies. Those included sampling error, differences in the populations from which subjects were drawn (Subjects), differences in the nature of incentives provided to subjects for passing the polygraph test (Incentives), and differences in the methods for diagnosing truth or deception (Decision Policy). A meta-analysis revealed that approximately 24% of the variance in detection rates could be attributed to sampling error, and detection rates were correlated with types of Subjects (r=.61). Incentives (r=.73), and Decision Policies (r=.67). The highest diagnostic accuracies were obtained from nonstudent subject samples, when both guilty and innocent subjects were offered monetary incentives to convince the examiner of their innocence, and when conventional field methods were used for interpreting the physiological recordings and diagnosing truth and deception. Together, differences in Subjects, Incentives, and Decision Policies may account for as much as 65% of the observed variance in detection rates. The present findings highlight the importance of conducting mock crime experiments that closely approximate field conditions.

[1]  D. Lykken,et al.  Psychology and the lie detector industry. , 1974, The American psychologist.

[2]  M. T. Bradley,et al.  Accuracy demonstrations, threat, and the detection of deception: cardiovascular, electrodermal, and pupillary measures. , 1981, Psychophysiology.

[3]  Gregg B. Jackson,et al.  Meta-Analysis: Cumulating Research Findings Across Studies , 1982 .

[4]  G. Glass.  Primary, Secondary, and Meta-Analysis of Research1 , 1976 .

[5]  M. T. Bradley,et al.  Alcohol and the psychophysiological detection of deception. , 1984, Psychophysiology.

[6]  J. Brokaw,et al.  Polygraphic Variations in Reactivity Between Delusional, Non-Delusional, and Control Groups in a Crime Situation , 1962 .

[7]  Benjamin Kleinmuntz,et al.  Statistical versus clinical lie detection. , 1981 .

[8]  D. C. Raskin,et al.  Effectiveness of techniques and physiological measures in the detection of deception. , 1978, Psychophysiology.

[9]  John E. Hunter,et al.  Employment testing: Old theories and new research findings. , 1981 .

[10]  F. Horvath,et al.  An Experimental Investigation of the Relative Validity and Utility of the Polygraph Technique and Three Other Common Methods of Criminal Identification , 1978 .

[11]  David C. Raskin,et al.  Physiological measures and the detection of deception. , 1977, Psychological bulletin.

[12]  Gordon H. Barland,et al.  An evaluation of field techniques in detection of deception. , 1975, Psychophysiology.

[13]  M. E. Dawson.  Physiological detection of deception: measurement of responses to questions and answers during countermeasure maneuvers. , 1980, Psychophysiology.

[14]  David C. Raskin,et al.  Methodological issues in estimating polygraph accuracy in field applications , 1987 .

[15]  Fred E. Inbau,et al.  Truth and deception : the polygraph (lie-detector) technique , 1977 .

[16]  R D Hare,et al.  Psychopathy and detection of deception in a prison population. , 1978, Psychophysiology.

[17]  Gershon Ben-Shakhar,et al.  A method for evaluating the use of the polygraph in a real-life situation. , 1982 .

[18]  P. Ekman.  Telling lies: clues to deceit in the marketplace , 1985 .

[19]  M. L. Smith,et al.  Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies. , 1977, The American psychologist.

[20]  C. Honts,et al.  Effects of physical countermeasures on the physiological detection of deception. , 1985, Journal of Applied Psychology.

[21]  I. Lieblich,et al.  Detection of information and GSR habituation: an attempt to derive detection efficiency from two habituation curves. , 1975, Psychophysiology.

[22]  M. Snyder,et al.  Reconstructing the Past: Some Cognitive Consequences of Person Perception , 1978 .

[23]  John T. Pohlmann,et al.  Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership: an application of the meta-analysis procedures of Schmidt and Hunter , 1985 .