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Polygraph (PDD)

Definition

A multichannel physiological recording instrument capturing electrodermal activity, cardiovascular parameters, and respiration. The term is used interchangeably with the examination technique; the instrument is not the method.

Related terms

AI Act Article 5(1)(F)
The EU AI Act prohibition on AI systems that infer emotions, intentions, or characteristics from biometric data in law-enforcement and related contexts....
BSA § 39
Section 39 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (formerly IEA § 45), governing the admissibility of expert opinion in Indian courts. The...
Concealed Information Test (CIT)
The Lykken paradigm that detects concealed knowledge by measuring the orienting response to crime-specific items embedded among foils. Theoretically sounder than the...
Control Question Test (CQT)
The dominant polygraph examination format, comparing physiological responses to crime-relevant questions against responses to emotionally loaded control questions. Criticised for its false-positive...
False Positive (PDD)
A truthful person classified as deceptive by the polygraph examination. The rate of false positives in field conditions is non-trivially high and...
Frye Standard
The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
NRC 2003
The National Research Council's *The Polygraph and Lie Detection* (2003), the most comprehensive scientific review of polygraph validity. Found no scientific basis...
Selvi V. State of Karnataka (2010)
Constitutional bench judgment (2010) 7 SCC 263 holding that compelled narco-analysis, polygraph testing, and brain-mapping violate Article 20(3) and Article 21 of...
US V. Scheffer (1998)
US Supreme Court decision upholding the per se exclusion of polygraph evidence in military courts under Military Rule of Evidence 707, on...

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