Facial skin surface temperature changes during a "concealed information" test.

When individuals who commit a crime are questioned, they often show involuntary physiological responses to remembered details of that crime. This phenomenon is the basis for the concealed information test, in which rarely occurring crime-related details are embedded in a series of more frequently occurring crime-irrelevant items while respiratory, cardiovascular, and electrodermal responses are recorded. Two experiments were completed to investigate the feasibility of using facial skin surface temperature (SST) measures recorded using high definition thermographic images as the physiological measure during a concealed information test.

Comparison of polygraph data obtained from individuals involved in mock crimes and actual criminal investigations.

In a preliminary attempt to determine the generalizability of data from laboratory mock-crime studies, the authors examined the similarities and differences among the cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiration responses of deceptive and nondeceptive individuals elicited to crime-relevant and crime-irrelevant questions. Participants in the laboratory group were randomly assigned to nondeceptive (n = 28) or deceptive (n = 27) treatment groups, and a mock-crime scenario was used. The field participants were confirmed nondeceptive (n = 28) or deceptive (n = 39) criminal suspects who underwent polygraph examinations between 1993 and 1997.

Efficacy of repeated psychophysiological detection of deception testing.

Physiological measures were recorded during repeated psychophysiological detection of deception (PDD) tests to determine if reaction levels change with test repetition. Two groups of 22 healthy male subjects completed six peak of tension PDD tests on each of two test days. A minimum between test day interval of six days was maintained.

The current status of research in forensic psychophysiology and its application in the psychophysiological detection of deception.

Since 1986 there have been unparalleled advances in the psychophysiological detection of deception (PDD) processes and procedures. This paper traces the emergence of a new emphasis in PDD research; the development of forensic psychophysiology as an academic discipline; provides an overview of computerized polygraphs now in use for collecting physiological data; introduces new sensors and transducers currently under study; and describes a new instrument now under development.