Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Polygraph |
PolygraphNoun1. A medical instrument that records several physiological processes simultaneously (e.g., pulse rate and blood pressure and respiration and perspiration). Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "polygraph" was first used: 1794. (references) |
Etymology: Polygraph \Pol"y*graph\, noun. [Greek expression writing much; poly`s much, many to write: compare to the French expression polygraphe.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | An instrument for making a graphic record of the changes in blood pressure and pulse and respiration rate of someone being questioned under or as if under suspicion of guilt. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A polygraph or lie detector is a device which measures and records several physiological variables such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and skin conductivity while a series of questions is being asked, in an attempt to detect lies. A polygraph test is also known as a psychophysiological detection of deception (PDD) examination.
A typical polygraph procedure starts with a pre-test interview designed to establish a connection between the tester and the testee and to gain some preliminary information which will later be used for control questions (see below). Then the tester will explain the polygraph, emphasizing that it can detect lies and that it is important to answer truthfully. Then a "stim test" is often conducted: the testee is asked to deliberately lie and then the tester reports that he was able to detect this lie. Then the actual test starts. Some of the questions asked are irrelevant ("Are you 35 years old?"), others are "probable-lie" control questions that most people will lie about ("Have you ever stolen money?") and the remainder are the relevant questions the polygrapher is really interested in. The different types of questions alternate. The test is passed if the physiological responses during the probable-lie control questions are larger than those during the relevant questions. If this is not the case, the tester attempts to elicit admissions during a post-test interview ("Your situation will only get worse if we don't clear this up"). These admissions are the main goal of the test.
The accuracy of polygraph tests is a matter of considerable controversy. While some claim the test to be accurate in 70% - 90% of the cases, critics charge that rather than a "test", the method amounts to an inherently unstandardizable interrogation technique whose accuracy cannot be established. Polygraph tests have also been criticized for failing to catch actual spies such as Aldrich Ames, who passed two polygraph tests while spying for the Russians.
Several countermeasures designed to pass polygraph tests have been described; the most important of which is never to make any damaging admissions. Additionally, several techniques can be used to increase the physiological response during control questions.
Polygraph tests were invented in the 1930s in the United States and are most commonly applied there. They were often used by employers in an attempt to screen out dishonest job applicants, but this practice was outlawed for most private employers in 1988. Many government agencies still apply routine lie detector tests to screen all employees. While lie detector tests are commonly used in police investigations, no defendant or witness can be forced to undergo the test. A US Supreme Court decision of 1998 left it up to the individual jurisdictions whether polygraph results could be admitted as evidence in court cases.
External links:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Polygraph."
Crosswords: Polygraph |
| English words defined with "polygraph": lie detector ♦ Polygraphical, Polygraphy. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "polygraph": INVESTIGATOR, INTERNAL AFFAIRS ♦ Lie Detection, lie-detection examiner ♦ POLYGRAPH EXAMINER. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Polygraph" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. German (polygraph). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | As I understand it, you're trained to beat a polygraph. Is it true you possess that talent? (High Crimes; writing credit: Yuri Zeltser) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Lin Wood | They've used polygraphs on some individuals, I'm told. The Ramseys did not accept their offer to take an FBI polygraph. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Polygraph" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.45% of the time. "Polygraph" is used about 22 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.45% | 21 | 76,261 |
| Noun (proper) | 4.55% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 22 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "polygraph": Keeler polygraph. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "polygraph"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | poligraf, pantograf i shumëfishtë, detektor gënjeshtrash. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | مكشاف الكذب (lie detector), متعدد الموضوعات. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 测谎器. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | polygraf. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | polygraaf (Keeler polygraph, lie detector), leugendetector (Keeler polygraph, lie detector). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | polygraphe, détecteur de mensonges. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Polygraph. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מכו ת אמת (lie detector), פולי'רף. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | poligráf, sokszorosítógép (copier, mimeograph). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | poligrafo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | ポリエステル繊維 (policy, polio, poliovirus, polyester fiber, polyethylene, polygon). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ポリグラフ . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | olygraphpay poligonal. (various references) poligraf. (various references) детектор лжи (lie detector). (various references) polígrafo. (various references) poligraf, yalan makinesi (lie detector), çoğaltma makinesi. (various references) розмножувальний апарат, плідний письменник. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | polygraphos. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "polygraph": polygrapher, polygraphers, polygraphic, polygraphist, polygraphists, polygraphs. (additional references) | |
| |
"Polygraph" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Polagraph, poligraph, polygragh, polygraphic, Polytropa, polyuria. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "polygraph" (pronounced pÄ"ligra'f) |
| 4 | -g r a' f | autograph, choreograph, hectograph, lithograph, mimeograph, monograph, paragraph, phonograph, photograph, spectrograph, Telegraph. |
| 3 | -r a' f | riffraff. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-g-h-l-o-p-p-r-y" | |
-2 letters: propyla. | |
-3 letters: gloppy, phylar, poplar, propyl, pyrola. | |
-4 letters: algor, apply, argol, galop, gappy, glary, glory, glyph, goral, graph, grapy, gyral, haply, happy, harpy, hoagy, hoary, hoppy, horal, largo, loppy, pargo, parol, payor, phyla, polar, polyp, porgy, ralph, royal. | |
-5 letters: agly, ahoy, aryl, gaol, gapy, glop, goal, gorp, gory, gray, gyro, halo, harl, harp, hoar. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-g-h-l-o-p-p-r-y" | |
+1 letter: polygraphs. | |
+2 letters: paleography, planography, polygrapher, polygraphic. | |
+3 letters: lymphography, phlebography, polarography, polygraphers, polygraphist. | |
+4 letters: lymphographic, polygraphists, typographical. | |
+5 letters: lymphographies, megasporophyll, paleogeography, parapsychology, plethysmograph. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 6F 6C 79 67 72 61 70 68 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
|
| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
|
| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references).--. --- .-.. -.--. --. .-. .- .--. .... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010000 01101111 01101100 01111001 01100111 01110010 01100001 01110000 01101000 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)P o l y g r a p h |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0050 006F 006C 0079 0067 0072 0061 0070 0068 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
|
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)508178917384678274 |
| Language | Coverage | Language Translations |
Albanian | fjalor, qartësi, përcaktim, saktësi, transmetim, transferim | shqip, الألبانية, الألباني, 阿"巴尼亚语, 阿爾巴尼亞人 , albánský, Albanees, Albanais, albaner, albán, albanese, albanês, arnãut, albanez, arnãuţesc, албанский, albanés, Arnavut, албанський, албанка, албанець |
Arabic | معجم, قاموس, الوضوحية في الشيء, حد, تحديد, تعريف, التحديد, الإيضاحية, ترجمة من لغة أجنبية للغة الأم, ترجمة, إفتتان | arabishte, العربية, عربي, اللغة العربية, 阿拉伯 , arabský, arabština, arabe, arabisch, ערבית, ערבי, arab, arabo, arabic, арабский, árabe, arapça, arap, araplara özgü, арабська мова, арабський |
Chinese | 字典 , 定義 , 定义, 翻译 | kinez, الصينية, لغة الصين, صيني, الصيني أحد أبناء الصين, 汉语, 中 , 漢 , 中國 , èínský, èínština, èíòan, Chinois, Chinesisch, kínai, cinese, チフス菌 , チャイニーズ , chinês, chinezesc, chinezeşte, chinezã, chinez, китайский, китаец, chino, çinli, çince, çin ile ilgili, çin, китаянка, китайська мова, китайський, кита"ць |
Czech | slovník, definice, překlad | çek, تشيكي, اللغة التشيكوسلوفاكية, التشيكي أحد أبناء تشيكوسلوفاكيا, 捷克語 , 捷克语, 捷克 , èesky, èeské, èech, èeština, èeský, èeška, Tsjech, Tsjechisch, tchèque, Tscheche, tschechisch, Tschechin, cseh, ceco, ceh, чешский, checo, Çek, çekoslovakyalı kimse, çekoslovakyalı, çek dili, чех, чеська мова, чеський, чешка |
Dutch | woordenboek, definitie, translatie | holandez, هولندي, اللغة الهولندية, 菏蘭語 , 荷兰语, holandský, nizozemský, néerlandais, holländisch, "ול "י, holland, olandese, holandês, olandez, nemţesc, limba olandezã, german, голландский, holandés, alman, eş, flemenkçe, holandaca, hollanda, karı, hollandalı, hollandalılara özgü olan, Hollandali, hollanda'ya ait, голландська мова, голландський |
French | dictionnaire, définition, traduction | frëngjishte, frëng, franceze, اللغة الفرنسية, فرنسي, الشعب الفرنسي, 法國 , 法文 , 法語 , 法语, francouzský, francouzština, français, französisch, צרפתית, צרפתי, francia, francese, フレコン化 , 仏文 , フランス" , 仏 , ふつぶ", ふつ, フレンチ , フランセ , francês, francezii, franţuzesc, francezã, francez, franţuzeşte, французский, francés, fransızca, fransız, Fransiz, fransızca ile ilgili, fransa ile ilgili, французька мова, французький |
German | Übersetzung, Wörterbuch, Definition | gjerman, ضرب من الرقص, جرماني, الماني, اللغة الألمانية, المانية, 德语, 德國 , 德文 , 德語 , nìmec, nìmecký, Duitse, allemand, 'רמ ית, 'רמ י, német, tedesco, ジプシー音楽 , ジャーマン , alemão, neamţ, немецкий, alemán, alman, німкеня, німецький, німець |
Hebrew | אוצר מילים, "'"ר", "'בל", תור'מ ות, תר'ום, "עתק", "עתק | hebraishte, اليهودية, اللغة العبرية, يهودي, عبري, العبرية, 西伯来, 希伯來語 , hebrejský, hebrejec, hebrejka, hebrejština, joods, Hebreeuws, hébreu, hebräisch, Hebräer, עברי, עברית, zsidó, héber, izraelita, ebreo, ebraico, ヘブライ語 , ヘブライ", hebreu, hebraico, limba ebraicã, izraelit, evreu, evreiesc, ebraic, еврей, древнееврейский язык, древнееврейский, еврейский, hebreo, musevi, ibranice, ibrani, іудей, іврит, старо"врейська мова, старо"врейський, "врейський, "врей |
Hungarian | szótár, meghatározás, definíció, fordítás | مجري, المجري, الهنغاري, هنغاري, اللغة الهنغارية, 匈牙利语, 匈牙利語 , maïarský, maïarština, maïar, Hongaarse, hongrois, Ungar, "ו 'רי, magyar, ungherese, unguresc, limba ungarã, limba maghiarã, ungureşte, ungur, maghiar, венгр, венгерский, húngaro, macarca, macar, угорська мова, угорський, угорка, угорець |
Italian | dizionario, definizione, traduzione | الإيطالي, اللغة الإيطالية, إيطالي, شخص إيطالي, 意大利 , 意大利語 , 意大利语, italský, italština, ital, italien, italienisch, איטלקית, איטלקי, olasz, italiano, italienesc, italieneşte, italian, italianã, итальянский язык, итальянец, итальянский, italyanca, italyan, італі"ць, італійська мова, італійський, італійка |
Japanese Kanji | 辭典 , 辞典 , 字引 , 辞林 , 字書 , ディーゼル電気車 , 言海 , 辞彙 , 辞書 , 確定 , ディーゼル電気車 , デ'ドロ酢酸 , 翻訳 | japonez, يابانية, ياباني, اليابانية, اللغة اليابانية, 日語 , 日语, 日本 , 日文 , 倭 , japonský, Japonais, japaner, japanisch, יפ י, japán, giapponese, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", japonês, japonezã, японский, японец, japonés, Japonca, японська мова, японський, японка, японець |
Japanese Katakana | じい, じびき, じて", ディクショナリー , じり", じしょ, '"かい, ディクショナリ , デフィニション , ディフィニション , ていぎ, かくてい, へい"ういどう, やくじゅつ, トランスレーション , やくしょ, やくしゅつ, "うどく, ほ"やく, ほ"やくしょ | japonez, يابانية, ياباني, اليابانية, اللغة اليابانية, 日語 , 日语, 日本 , 日文 , 倭 , japonský, Japonais, japaner, japanisch, יפ י, japán, giapponese, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", japonês, japonezã, японский, японец, japonés, Japonca, японська мова, японський, японка, японець |
Portuguese | dicionário, definição, tradução | portugez, portugalisht, اللغة البرتغالية, البرتغالية, البرتغالي, 葡萄牙語 , 葡萄牙人 , 葡萄牙语, portugalský, portugais, portugiesisch, portugál, portoghese, ポルトガル語 , ポルトガル", português, portughez, португальский, portugués, portekizce, portekiz, Portekízlí, portekizli, португальський, португальська мова, португалець |
Romanian | dicţionar, definiţie, determinare, definire, translaţie, traducere, tãlmãcire | rumun, 罗马尼亚语, rumunský, rumunština, Roemeens, Roumain, rumäne, román, rumeno, romeno, român, румынский, румын, rumano, румунський, румунка, румунська мова, румун |
Russian | словарь, определение, трансляция, сдвиг, перевод, перемещение | روسي, اللغة الروسية, الروسية, 俄語 , 俄文 , 俄语, ruština, ruský, Russe, russisch, רוסי, orosz, russo, ロシア語 , ロシア", русский, ruso, Rusça, росіянка, росіянин, російська мова, російський |
Spanish | diccionario, definición, traducción | spanjoll, اللغة الأسبانية, الأسبانية, أسباني, 西班牙語 , 西班牙文 , 西班牙语, španìlský, španìlština, Spaans, espagnol, spanisch, ספר"ית, ספר"י, spanyol, spagnolo, スペイン語 , スパイ罪 , スペイン", スパニッシュ , espanhol, spaniol, spaniolesc, spanioleşte, испанский, español, ispanyollar, ispanyol, ispanyolca, іспанський, іспанська мова |
Turkish | sözlük, ansiklopedik sözlük, açıklama, belirleme, belirtme, kesinleştirme, tanım, tarif, seçiklik, tanımlama, tercüme | turk, تركي أحد أبناء تركيا, اللغة التركية, 土耳其語 , 土耳其, turecký, tureètina, turque, türkisch, טורקי, török, turcesc, turc, турецкий, turco, türkçe, türk, турецький, турецька мова |
Ukrainian | словник, довідник, чіткість, тлумачення, виразність, визначення, дефініція, ясність, чітка чутність, процес перекладу, переклад, пояснення, переміщення | ukrainisht, ukrainas, أوكراني أحد أبناء أوكرانيا, الأوكراني, 乌克兰, ukrajinec, ukrajinština, ukrajinský, ukrajinka, Oekraïens, ukrainien, ukrainisch, ukrainerin, Ukrainer, ukrán, ucraino, ucraniano, ucrainean, украинский язык, украинский, украинец украинский, ucranio, ukraynalı, ukrayna, ukraynaca, український, українець |
English | Dictionary, Definition, Translation | anglezët, anglez, gjuhë zngleze, anglishte, anglisht, الإنجليزية, الأنكليزي, إنكليزي, ترجمة إنكليزية, اللغة الإنكليزية, 英语, 英國 , 英文 , 英 , 英語 , anglicky, anglais, englisch, א 'לית, angol, inglese, inglês, englezesc, английский, inglés, ingiltere, ingiliz, Íngílízce, ingilizce, Íngílíz, ýngilizce, англійський, англійці, англійська мова |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Spoken 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Orthography 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
