Test Structure and Administration

In 1970, a psychologist named Dr. David Raskin, a researcher at the University of Utah, began a study of the probable lie comparison question polygraph technique. Raskin and his colleagues systematically studied and refined the elements of polygraphy by determining what aspects of the technique could be scientifically proven to increase validity and reliability (Raskin & Honts 2002). Their efforts culminated in the creation of what is known today as the Utah approach to the Comparison Question Test (CQT) The Utah-CQT is an empirically consistent and unified approach to polygraphy. The Utah-CQT, traditionally employed as a single issue Zone Comparison Test (ZCT), is amenable to other uses as a multi-facet or multiple-issue (mixed-issue) General Question Technique (GQT) and the related family of Modified General Question Technique (MGQT) examination formats. The Utah-CQT and the corresponding Utah Numerical Scoring System (Bell, Raskin, Honts & Kircher, 1999; Handler, 2006) resulted from over 30 years of scientific research and scientific peer-review. The resulting technique provides some of the highest rates of criterion accuracy and interrater reliability of any polygraph examination protocol (Senter, Dollins & Krapohl, 2004; Krapohl, 2006). The authors discuss the Utah-CQT using the Probable Lie Test (PLT) as well as the lesser known Directed Lie Test (DLT) and review some of the possible benefits offered by each method.