Countering countermeasures in the concealed information test using covert respiration measures

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Psychophysiology
• Lie Detection

Background:

• The Concealed Information Test (CIT) is a polygraph technique used to detect deception.
• Countermeasures, both physical and mental, pose a significant threat to the accuracy of the CIT.
• Developing countermeasures-resistant detection methods is crucial for forensic science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of physical and mental countermeasures against standard CIT measures.
• To assess the efficacy of novel covert respiration measures in detecting countermeasures.
• To determine the resilience of CIT to countermeasures when using integrated physiological and covert detection methods.

Main Methods:

• A mock crime experiment was conducted with 64 participants.
• Participants were trained to use physical or mental countermeasures.
• Standard physiological measures (SCR, FPWL, RLL) and two covert respiration measures were employed.
• The experiment involved a polygraph phase and a phase using only covert measures.

Main Results:

• Physical countermeasures reduced Skin Conductance Response (SCR) accuracy but minimally affected other standard measures.
• SCR demonstrated relative resistance to mental countermeasures.
• Covert measures were resistant to physical countermeasures during the polygraph phase.
• The covert seat measure was effective against mental countermeasures when standard devices were removed, but not against physical ones.

Conclusions:

• Standard CIT measures are vulnerable to physical countermeasures.
• SCR shows some resilience to mental countermeasures.
• Covert respiration measures offer potential for detecting deception, particularly against mental countermeasures, but physical countermeasures remain a challenge.