Lie

• General Rules in formulating Test Questions:

  • Questions must be simple and direct
  • Questions must not involve legal terminologies
  • Questions must be as simple and as short as possible
  • Questions must be answerable by Yes or No
  • Questions must not be accusatorial
  • Questions' meaning must be clear and phrased in a language that the subject can easily understand
  • Questions must never contain inference which presupposes knowledge on the part of the subject
• Irrelevant Questions:

  • Questions that have no bearing to the case under investigation
  • Questions may refer to the subject's age, educational attainment, marital status, citizenship, occupation, etc.
  • Examiners ask these types of questions to ascertain the subject's normal pattern of response by eliminating the feeling of apprehension
  • Examples: Did you eat today? Do you smoke? Are you from Baguio?
• Relevant Questions:

  • Questions pertaining to the issue under investigation
  • Questions must be unambiguous, unequivocal, and understandable to the subject
  • Questions must all be related to one issue or one criminal act
  • Relevant questions must be very specific to obtain an accurate result
  • Further classified into Strong Relevant and Secondary or Weak Relevant
• Knowledge Questions:

  • Questions designed to prove whether the subject possesses information regarding the identity of the offender or location of evidence or facts of the case under investigation
  • Examples: Do you know who stole the watch of Hazel? Do you know who killed Justine?
• Evidence-Connecting Questions:

  • Designed to stimulate the guilty subject and focus his attention on the probability of incriminating proof that would tend to establish his guilt
  • Examiner must secure information from the investigator on the availability of evidences collected from the crime scene
  • Examples: Were the found footprints outside of Hazel's house yours? Were the knife found on the place where Justine was found dead yours?
• Control Questions/Comparison Questions:

  • Compare the physiological response to relevant questions about the crime with the response to questions relating to possible prior misdeeds
  • Designed to produce a response in the innocent subject
  • Primary Control Questions are based on a known lie
  • Secondary Control Questions are more specified in nature and based upon another set of wrong doings
• Guilt-Complex Questions:

  • Specialized control question designed to safeguard against mistaking relevant questions response and is based on a fictitious crime under investigation
  • Examiner must be certain that the fictitious crime was never actually committed
  • Details of the question must be specific enough that the guilty subject can be sure he did not commit this particular offense
  • Examples: Did you steal the gold coin of Juan? Did you kill Anna?
• Symptomatic Questions:

  • Designed to detect and evaluate the presence of outside issues, which may suppose responses to relevant questions
  • Example: Do you understand that I'm not going to ask any trick or surprise questions?
• Sacrifice or DYAT Question:

  • Intended to obtain responses usually produced by the introduction of the first relevant question in the sequence
  • Divulge the subject's norm plus and excitement stage
  • Example: DO YOU INTEND TO ANSWER TRUTHFULLY?
• 1. K-Y Question:

  • Three questions grouped together by Backster and used only on the third chart in the zone comparison test
  • Designed to confirm the previous charts and detect indirect involvement or guilty knowledge
  • S stands for suspect, K stands for know, Y stands for you
• Card Number Test (CNT):

  • Done with the use of 7 cards numbered accordingly (except 7, 11, and 13)
  • Purpose: To determine if the card selected by the subject is shown/asked
• Silent Answer Test (SAT):

  • Contains the same questions from GQT, CNT, SRT, and MQT
  • Subject is instructed to think of his/her answer without saying it, process is called "Sub Vocalization"
  • Purpose: To serve as an affirmative check
• Peak of Tension Test:

  • Used if subject is not informed of the vital facts of the offense