CPE CPE Countermeasure Detection 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is classified as a physical countermeasure during a polygraph examination?
- Thinking of a pleasant memory
- Pressing the toes against the floor during control questions (Correct answer)
- Counting backwards silently
- Focusing on a single object in the room
Correct answer: Pressing the toes against the floor during control questions
Physical countermeasures involve deliberate muscle movements or physical actions—such as pressing the toes down or biting the tongue—to artificially augment physiological responses to control questions.
Question 2: What term describes a subject's attempt to reduce physiological responses to relevant questions through mental strategies?
- Physical augmentation
- Mental countermeasures (Correct answer)
- Adaptive suppression
- Cognitive anchoring
Correct answer: Mental countermeasures
Mental countermeasures involve cognitive strategies such as counting, performing mental arithmetic, or visualizing calming scenes to suppress arousal to relevant questions.
Question 3: Which channel of the polygraph is considered most resistant to voluntary physical countermeasures?
- Respiratory (pneumograph)
- Electrodermal activity (EDA/GSR)
- Cardio (blood pressure/pulse) (Correct answer)
- Finger plethysmograph
Correct answer: Cardio (blood pressure/pulse)
The cardiovascular channel is generally considered harder to voluntarily manipulate compared to respiration, as most subjects cannot consciously control heart rate and blood pressure changes.
Question 4: What does the term 'augmentation' refer to in the context of polygraph countermeasures?
- Increasing the machine's sensitivity settings
- Artificially inflating physiological responses to non-relevant questions (Correct answer)
- Adding additional chart runs to the examination
- Expanding the question list beyond the standard format
Correct answer: Artificially inflating physiological responses to non-relevant questions
Augmentation countermeasures involve deliberately enhancing physiological responses to control or comparison questions to make them appear larger than responses to relevant questions.
Question 5: Which physiological indicator in the respiratory tracing is most commonly associated with countermeasure use?
- Increased amplitude
- Irregular baseline with apnea periods near relevant questions (Correct answer)
- Consistent deep breaths throughout
- Accelerated breathing rate at test start
Correct answer: Irregular baseline with apnea periods near relevant questions
Deliberate breath-holding (apnea) or irregular breathing patterns near relevant questions are hallmark signs of respiratory countermeasure attempts.
Question 6: According to polygraph research, what is the overall effectiveness of informed physical countermeasures in beating a polygraph test?
- Near 100% success rate
- Approximately 50% success rate in controlled studies (Correct answer)
- Less than 10% in well-run examinations
- Completely ineffective
Correct answer: Approximately 50% success rate in controlled studies
Research (e.g., Honts et al.) has found that subjects trained in physical countermeasures can achieve roughly 50% success rates in defeating polygraph tests, highlighting the need for examiner vigilance.
CPE CPE Countermeasure Detection 1
Which of the following is classified as a physical countermeasure during a polygraph examination?