Polygraph Technical Glossary “H”

Terms Relating to Lie Detectors Explained – Letter H

Habituation Adaptation to a stimulus over time. As an organism habituates to a stimulus or environment, its response diminishes both in intensity and frequency. In PDD, habituation has been found within tests, but little or none between tests. See: Dollins, Cestaro, & Pettit (1998); Kircher, Raskin, & Honts (1984).   Halo Effect Tendency of an observer to be unduly influenced by a single trait of an individual. This term was coined by Thorndike in 1920 in the context of psychological assessment. For the PDD examiner, it is a potential source of error if subject-examiner interactions are factored into the final PDD decision. See: O’Sullivan (2003); Thorndike (1920).   Heart Rate Rate of ventricular contractions, usually measured in beats per minute. It is one index of physiological arousal. Some recent research indicates that after stimulus onset, cardiac arousal takes the form of an immediate decrease in heart rate, if the response is an orienting response (OR). Heart rate and the interbeat interval are reciprocals of one another.   Hertz Term for frequency, in cycles per second. For example, a heart rate of 80 beats per minute would equal 1.33 hertz. Frequency measures in psychophysiology are often reported in hertz, particularly when identifying engineering specifications of instrumentation. Named for German physicist Heinrich R. Hertz. Sometimes called cycles per second (cps).   Hg Chemical symbol for the element mercury. Millimeters of mercury is the reference for measures of pressure, such as barometric and blood pressure. Conventional polygraph notation for air pressure in the sphygmomanometer is gauged in millimeters of mercury (i.e., 72 mm Hg). Hg stands for hydrargyrum, from Greek for water and silver. Sometimes called quicksilver.   Hidden Comparison Question Question designed to evoke a response from a truthful person, but appears to be relevant to the examinee, and therefore its true purpose is concealed. Useful for testing victims or those knowledgeable in CQT formats. Sometimes called disguised comparison question.   Hidden Key Critical item in the Known Solution Peak of Tension test. It is called hidden because it is not known to be the critical question to the innocent examinee, and it is embedded in a list of apparently similar questions. There is one key per test.   Hobson’s Choice An expression referring to an apparently free choice that offers no genuine alternative. It was named after Thomas Hobson, a stable owner in the 16th century, who offered patrons the horse nearest the door, or none at all. For Hobson’s customers, there was the illusion of choice, but no actual options. Hobson’s Choice is used in polygraphy when the probable-lie questions are developed in the pretest interview. The examinee feels as if he or she must pass this question to pass the examination. During the pretest interview the question is presented and refined until the examinee chooses to deceive rather than to accept the much less desirable option of acknowledging socially proscribed behaviors. Truthfulness is not a true choice in that circumstance, and therefore the examinee’s decision to lie is based not on a free choice but on a Hobson’s Choice. The lack of alternatives or “escapes,” which is associated with a state of “learned helplessness,” may be a mechanism in the arousal level. See: Vendemia (2002).   Homeostasis Homeostasis is a term used within the scientific community to describe the maintenance of the internal viability of organisms. The word homeostasis is derived from the Greek homeo, means “same,” while stasis means “stable;” thus, “remaining stable by staying the same.” Walter Cannon coined the term “homeostasis” to refer to the processes by which constancy of the fluid matrix is maintained. Claude Bernard declared “All the vital mechanisms have only one object, to preserve constant the condition of the internal environment.” Studies in physiology and medicine have interpreted that statement to mean certain aspects of the internal milieu are fixed at a specific set point. The historical concept of homeostasis is the basis of modern concepts of autonomic regulation and control. Also see allostasis.   Hope of Error Concept introduced by James Matte, and a central component of his Quadri-Track Technique. Because guilty examinees usually stand to lose something of importance if their deceptions are uncovered by the polygraph, Matte argues that they are hopeful that there will be an error in the outcome. Alternatively, truthful subject are being deceptive to probable lie comparison questions, and they too might be hopeful for an error to occur. During testing Matte includes a direct question regarding the examinee’s hope of an error, and scores the question as a relevant question. See: Matte (1996); Matte & Reuss (1989); Nelson & Cushman, (2011).   Horizontal Scoring System A method devised by Gordon and Cochetti in the 1980s. All responses within each channel are ranked from largest to smallest; ranks assigned to comparison questions are given positive values, while those to relevant questions receive negative values. For example, if a test had three each of relevant and comparison questions, and the magnitude of the responses in a given channel resulted in an order of R3, R1, C1, R2, C3, and C2, their values would be designated as -6, -5, +4, -3, +2, and +1, respectively. This method is repeated for all channels in all tests and then summed for a grand total. Thresholds suggested by Gordon and Cochetti were two points per relevant question per test, and a minimum of two tests. Because of the ranking approach, this scoring system may be limited to single-issue testing situations. Additionally, some of the diagnostic criteria and transformation procedures have not been shown to be empirically supported. See: Gordon (1999); Gordon & Cochetti (1987); Gordon, Mohamed, Faro, Platek, Ahmad & Williams (2005); Krapohl, Gordon & Lombardi (2008); Nelson & Handler (2011).   Hot Questions Informal parlance for the relevant questions.   Hydrosphygmograph Device used by Cesare Lombroso at the end of the 19th century to detect changes in blood pressure during deception, though the hydrosphygmograph that had been invented years earlier for medical purposes. It consisted of a container of water and a rubber seal through which an examinee’s fist was placed into the water. Once the container was sealed, changes in relative blood volume changes were transferred to the closed system and could be recorded with tubing leading to a recording pen that wrote on a smoked drum. This is the first mechanical device reported in the literature used specifically for deception tests. See: Trovillo (1939).   Hyperventilation Increase in rate and depth of respiration.   Hypnosis Altered state of consciousness in which the subject is very receptive to suggestion and direction. Hypnosis has been a concern to PDD practitioners because it is thought to be a possible undetectable countermeasure. In a highly suggestible state, guilty subjects could conceivably have memories of their crimes blocked, altered, or replaced so that physiologic responsiveness would be unreliable for diagnosing deception. It could also be used to enhance desensitization training, or autonomic conditioning. The little research on hypnosis has not conclusively settled the issue. See: Weinstein, Abrams, & Gibbons (1970); Timm (1991).   Hypothenar Eminence Prominence on the palm corresponding with the musculature of the little finger. One of the most productive recording sites, along with the thenar eminence, for electrodermal activity. See Handler, Nelson, Krapohl & Honts (2010).