Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Polygraph Automated Scoring System (PASS)in Detecting Deception in a Mock Crime Analog Study

摘要

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a prototypescoring alogorithm, the Polygraph Automated Scoring System (PASS), version 2.0, when analyzing mock crime data. A database of psychophysiological detection of deception (PDD) measurements was collected using the Axciton Polygraph System. The PDD test format used was the Zone Comparison Test (ZCT). In addition, two types of control question tests (CQTs) were used during the study: (a) an experimental version of the directed lie control (DLC), and (b) the conventional probable lie control (PLC) currently in use throughout the PDD community. The data set is composed of 120 local civilian citizens who underwent a PDD examination, half of which committed a mock theft of money. The results showed that PASS accuracy on controlled laboratory data with known ground truth as far below that attained by APL during algorithm development when using 'live' PDD examinations. In fact, rates of accuracy for both PASS and the PDD examiners were lower than anticipated. PASS was clearly more accurate in identifying individuals who had been programmed 'innocent,' while the PDD examiners were more accurate in detecting individuals who had been programmed 'guilty.' Use of the DLC versus the PLC made no apparent difference in overall accuracy for either PASS or the PDD examiners, though there were statistically significant differences when analyzed