Polygraph Examination in Poland. History, Law, Experimental Research, and Practice

"We can speak of the prehistory of polygraph examinations in Poland, referring to the origin and development of experimental psychology, based on physiology. Its starting date is agreed to be connected with the works of Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920). It was in his days that scientists learned to register and measure various psychological functions accompanying psychological phenomena, especially emotions."(...

Results of Polygraph Examinations: Direct or Circumstantial Evidence?

"The division of evidence into bezpośrednie (direct) and pośrednie (circumstantial) is commonly used in the Polish doctrine (Cieślak 1955, Gaberle 2007, J. Nelken 1970). In both languages, “circumstantial evidence” stands in opposition to “direct evidence” (Ingram 2012, Inman, Rudin: 2001, Roberts, Redmayne 2001, Kiely 2001). Let’s imagine a following case: X Thas admitted to murdering A. Witness Y testified that The saw X killing A. Trace of A’s DNA was discovered on tThe clothing of X."(...

From forensic psychophisiology to forensic neurophysiology. New trends in examinations in the detection of deception

From introduction: "Developed and perfected for years, polygraph examination techniques have probably reached the limits of their capabilities. Their diagnostic value is comparable to that of other techniques routinely used in investigations (Widacki 1977, Widacki & Horvath 1978). Neither new examination techniques nor new kinds of tests are likely substantially to affect this conclusion. Granted, whereas whether it is possible to improve the diagnostic value by another 1 % and increase the number of conclusive results may be of significance for practice, this remains more an issue of perfecting practice rather than a scientific problem."(...

Polygraph examinations in Poland

"It is a curious and interesting detail that one of the discoverers of galvanic skin response, the Russian physiologist Tarchanoff, spent his last years as an emigrant in Poland. Also noteworthy is that his Polish student, collaborator and friend, Napoleon Cybulski, known for his work on catecholamines, was a professor and rector of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (1). Before the Second World War, the Institute of Mental Hygiene in Warsaw had a polygraph in its possession (2). It was employed for psychological experiments and research, but not for criminal investigation – at least no mention of such an application has survived."(...

Polygraph Examination in Criminal Cases. Current Polish Practice. A Critical Study

"In total, according to data reported for our research by Police, Military Police, Border Guard and General Public Prosecutor Office in 2005–2012 they performed 570 examinations in criminal cases (the fewest in 2005 – 8, and the most in 2011 – 158). In the same period approximately one million criminal cases were initiated in Poland each year (with the most in 2005 – 1,235,239, and the fewest in 2010 – 964,616)."(...

When should the Polygraph Stimulation Number Test be Performed?

"In his recently published monograph Badania poligraficzne – podręcznik dla zawodowców, literally “Polygraph testing – a handbook for professionals”, Jerzy Konieczny recommends performing the stimulation number test as the first in the series, opening the examination (Konieczny 2009, 151, 155). Besides him, a few other authors recommend that this test begins the examination. In Truth and Deception, a work that has become a classic, J. Reid and F. Inbau (1976, 38) recommend using the stimulation test second, after conducting the first test of control questions, and before its repetition."(...

Experiments in Using Face Temperature Changes as an Indicator in Instrumental Decetion of Deception

From introduction: "Variations of face temperature are certainly a good indicator of emotional changes, which is why attempts at using them in the detection of deception are being made.[1] Such variations may be observed with the use of an infrared camera, which implies remote sensing and removes the need to put any sensors on the body of the subject and makes the method potentially attractive for detection of deception. Th eoretically, it can be applied without making the subject aware, and even more so without the subject’s consent, which may material for its use for the purposes of police and/ or special units."(...

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Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publicationProject DEC-2013/11/B/HS5/03856 funded by National Science Centre

Experiments in Using Face Temperature Changes as an Indicator in Instrumental Dtection of Deception

From introduction: "Variations of face temperature are certainly a good indicator of emotional changes, which is why attempts at using them in the detection of deception are being made.[1] Such variations may be observed with the use of an infrared camera, which implies remote sensing and removes the need to put any sensors on the body of the subject and makes the method potentially attractive for detection of deception. Th eoretically, it can be applied without making the subject aware, and even more so without the subject’s consent, which may material for its use for the purposes of police and/ or special units."(...

Discoverers of the Galvanic Skin Response

"Galvanic Skin Response and its role in the instrumental detection of deception The GSR (galvanic skin response, or electrodermal activity) channel is considered the most diagnostic recording in polygraph examinations, and the best discriminator between people providing deceptive answers to test questions and non-deceptive subjects."(...