Chapter 10 infographic image description

The title of the infographic is, Thinking Critically About: Lie Detection

The Learning Objective Question reads, How effective are polygraphs in using body states to detect lies?

At the top of the first panel the text reads, Polygraphs measure emotion-linked autonomic arousal as reflected in changed breathing, heart rate, and perspiration. Can we use these results to detect lies?

Under this text, an illustration shows a worried-looking woman sitting in a chair with polygraph test wires attached to her. The wires lead to a polygraph machine on a table where another woman sits, administering the polygraph test. In a textbox pointing to the test examiner, the examiner asks the woman taking the test, In the last 20 years, have you ever taken something that didn’t belong to you? In another textbox pointing to the test taker, is the word No! From there, an arrow points to a box with an illustration of an EEG scan showing the waves of the test taker’s heartbeat. Text reads, Many people tell a little white lie in response to this control question, prompting elevated arousal readings that give the examiner a baseline for comparing responses to other questions. In another textbox pointing at the examiner is the text, Did you ever steal anything from your previous employer? In a textbox pointing to the test taker are the words, Uh, no. From there, an arrow points to a box with an illustration of the higher waves of an elevated heart rate. Text reads, This person shows greater arousal in response to the critical question than she did to the control question, so the examiner may infer she is lying.

In the second panel, the text reads, But is it true that only a thief becomes nervous when denying a theft?

Under this is a numbered list.

1. We have similar bodily arousal in response to anxiety, irritation, and guilt. So, is she really guilty, or just anxious?
2. Many innocent people do get tense and nervous when accused of a bad act. (Many rape victims, for example, have open quotes failed closed quotes these tests because they had strong emotional reactions while telling the truth about the rapist.) (Footnote 1: Lykken, 1991.)

In the third panel, the text reads, About one-third of the time, polygraph test results are just wrong. (Footnote 2: Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984.) Beside this text are two pie charts with yellow and gray sections. The yellow represents Judged innocent by polygraph. The gray represents Judged guilty by polygraph. The first pie chart is labeled Innocent People. More than two-thirds of the pie chart is yellow (indicating innocence). But almost one-third of the pie chart is gray (indicating guilt). The second pie chart is labeled Guilty People. A little more than three-quarters of the chart is gray (indicating guilt). And a little less than a quarter of the chart is yellow (indicating innocence).

The text beside these pie charts reads, If these polygraph experts had been the judges, more than one-third of the innocent would have been declared guilty, and nearly one-fourth of the guilty would have gone free. The CIA and other U.S. agencies have spent millions of dollars testing tens of thousands of employees. Yet the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2002) has reported that open quotes no spy has ever been caught [by] using the polygraph. Closed quotes.

At the bottom of the infographic is a large right-facing arrow with the text inside it, The Concealed Information Test is more effective. Innocent people are seldom wrongly judged to be lying. The arrow points to text, Questions focus on specific crime-scene details known only to the police and the guilty person. (Footnote 3: Ben-Shakhar & Elaad, 2003; Verschuere & Meijer, 2014; Vrij & Fisher, 2016.) (If a camera and computer had been stolen, for example, only a guilty person should react strongly to the brand names of the stolen items.)