Data Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real CPE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Data Analysis flashcards as text
What role does 'normalization' play in polygraph data analysis when comparing responses across different examinees?
Answer: It accounts for individual baseline differences so responses can be meaningfully compared within a subject
Normalization adjusts for each examinee's unique physiological baseline, allowing within-subject comparisons between comparison and relevant question responses rather than cross-subject comparisons.
Which of the following artifacts would most likely cause an examiner to discard a chart run and request a re-administration?
Answer: Persistent gross body movement artifacts corrupting all channels throughout the chart
Persistent gross movement artifacts that corrupt all channels throughout the chart render the data unscorable, necessitating re-administration of that chart run.
A polygraph examiner finds that only one of three chart runs shows a clear response pattern to relevant questions. The best analytical approach is to:
Answer: Collect additional charts and evaluate the overall pattern before rendering a determination
Best practice requires collecting sufficient data and evaluating response consistency across multiple charts before rendering a determination; a single chart is rarely sufficient for a conclusive result.
In data analysis, what does a 'gradual recovery' in the electrodermal tracing following a question stimulus suggest compared to a 'rapid recovery'?
Answer: Gradual recovery generally indicates a more robust and prolonged autonomic response
A gradual, prolonged return to baseline in EDA reflects greater and more sustained sympathetic nervous system activation, generally considered more diagnostically meaningful than a brief rapid recovery.
When computing a grand total score across multiple relevant questions in the ZCT format, what calculation method is used?
Answer: Sum the spot scores for each question across all channels and all charts
The grand total score in ZCT is computed by summing all individual spot scores (channel × question × chart) across every relevant question, all three channels, and all chart presentations.
A sensitivity value of 0.88 in a polygraph validation study means:
Answer: 88% of deceptive examinees were correctly identified as deceptive
Sensitivity refers to the true positive rate — the proportion of actually deceptive individuals correctly identified as deceptive by the polygraph test.
Which of the following best describes the purpose of a 'known-lie' (KL) test question during data analysis validation?
Answer: To assess whether the examiner's scoring accurately identifies responses to questions answered with a known deception
A known-lie question provides a ground-truth deceptive response that can be used to validate whether the examiner's scoring system and analysis correctly identifies known deception in that examinee.