 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
  |
||||||
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is A Polygraph?
What is Computerized Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA)?
What is the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988?
What Is A Polygraph?
The polygraph measures predictable changes in a person's body that are associated with the stress of deception. These changes include alterations in heart rate, breathing, and electrodermal activity (emotional sweating). Many other changes occur as well: the pupils get larger, digestion slows, the body's blood supply is redistributed away from the skin and gastrointestinal regions and toward the muscles, etc. The measures used by the polygraph were selected in the 1920's and 1930's because they were simple to record (as opposed to brain waves or gastrointestinal activity), they were sensitive (even minor changes in stress levels caused these physiological changes to occur), and they were accurate.
What is Computerized Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA)?
Starting about 25 years ago, serious efforts were made to use the voice to detect deception. Many devices were marketed for this purpose. The most widely advertised devices have been the Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE), the Hagoth, the Mark II Voice Stress Analyzer (VSA), and the Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA). If effective, voice analysis offers many advantages over current polygraph methodology. Voice samples can be recorded without discomfort to the subject. Examinations could be conducted remotely, both in distance, using a telephone or radio link, or in time, using a tape recording. In rare cases, it could even be conducted after a person’s death, if a recording made under proper technical, psychological, and investigative conditions existed. The recordings could also be conducted surreptitiously and would be of great benefit in intelligence and counterintelligence investigations, international negotiations, etc.
However, the preponderance of evidence indicates the polygraph is far more accurate at detecting deception than is voice stress analysis. No Department of Defense agency uses any form of voice stress analysis for investigative purposes.
What is the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988?
The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA) prohibits most private employers from using polygraph testing to screen applicants for employment. It does not affect public employers such as police agencies or other governmental institutions.
In the testimony regarding EPPA it became clear that there were no current and reliable data on a variety of important issues about police applicant screening, although polygraph testing had reportedly been used for that purpose since at least the early 1950’s.
For Answers to more Questions please visit The American Polygraph Association Website
Contact NYSP
Raymond J. Latimer
419 Bullville Road
Montgomery, NY 12549
Phone: (845) 361-1516
Fax: (845) 361-5285
polygraph@hvc.rr.com
