Detecting Deception
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
Wherever two people communicate, deception is a reality. It is present in our everyday social and professional lives and its detection can be beneficial, not only to us individually but to our society as a whole. For example, accurate deception detection can aid law enforcement officers in solving a crime. It can also help border control agents to detect potentially dangerous individuals during routine screening interviews. Currently, the most successful and widespread system is the polygraph which monitors uncontrolled changes in heart rate and electro-dermal response, as a result of the subject’s arousal to deceit. Unfortunately, its widespread use does not necessarily mean it is a perfect system. Firstly, in order for it to take the necessary measurements, it needs to be continuously connected to the subject’s body. This means that the subject must be cooperative and in close proximity to the device. Secondly, it requires accurate calibration at the beginning of every session, so that a baseline of measurements can be established. Occasionally, it may still fail to give accurate readings, despite the calibration step; if for example, the subject’s heart rate increases for reasons unrelated to deception. Furthermore, the polygraph is an overt system, which means that the subject knows they are being monitored and also knows what measurements are being made.
As a result, they may devise techniques to trick the machine, such as remaining calm, in an attempt to control their heart rate or being excited during the calibration phase, so that any excitement due to deception that the polygraph later registers, will mistakenly be regarded as a normal response. Lastly, the polygraph requires a trained operator, whose skills and abilities control both the likelihood of human error in the interview and the length of the interview itself. Unlike computers, humans will get tired and will eventually need a break. Therefore,
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
Wherever two people communicate, deception is a reality. It is present in our everyday social and professional lives and its detection can be beneficial, not only to us individually but to our society as a whole. For example, accurate deception detection can aid law enforcement officers in solving a crime. It can also help border control agents to detect potentially dangerous individuals during routine screening interviews. Currently, the most successful and widespread system is the polygraph which monitors uncontrolled changes in heart rate and electro-dermal response, as a result of the subject’s arousal to deceit. Unfortunately, its widespread use does not necessarily mean it is a perfect system. Firstly, in order for it to take the necessary measurements, it needs to be continuously connected to the subject’s body. This means that the subject must be cooperative and in close proximity to the device. Secondly, it requires accurate calibration at the beginning of every session, so that a baseline of measurements can be established. Occasionally, it may still fail to give accurate readings, despite the calibration step; if for example, the subject’s heart rate increases for reasons unrelated to deception. Furthermore, the polygraph is an overt system, which means that the subject knows they are being monitored and also knows what measurements are being made.
As a result, they may devise techniques to trick the machine, such as remaining calm, in an attempt to control their heart rate or being excited during the calibration phase, so that any excitement due to deception that the polygraph later registers, will mistakenly be regarded as a normal response. Lastly, the polygraph requires a trained operator, whose skills and abilities control both the likelihood of human error in the interview and the length of the interview itself. Unlike computers, humans will get tired and will eventually need a break. Therefore,
Bibliography: http://what-when-how.com/forensic-sciences/detection-of-deception/ http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/uncategorized/detecting-deception.html#high_1