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John A. Podlesny
Validation and comparison of polygraph techniques including control question and guilty knowledge tests
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About John A. Podlesny
John A. Podlesny completed his Ph.D. at the University of Utah, where he worked closely with David C. Raskin in the Department of Psychology. He later held a position as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. Podlesny subsequently worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he conducted research on the applicability of polygraph techniques in criminal investigations.
Podlesny made significant contributions to the scientific foundation of polygraph testing during the late 1970s. His 1977 Psychological Bulletin review article with Raskin on "Physiological measures and the detection of deception" became a landmark paper in the field. His 1978 laboratory study in Psychophysiology compared control-question (CQ) and guilty-knowledge (GK) techniques in a mock theft context, producing blind numerical evaluations with 94% and 83% correct decisions for different types of CQ tests and 89% correct for GK tests. This research demonstrated that exclusive control questions were more effective than nonexclusive control questions. He also co-authored a major government report with Raskin and Barland in 1978 on the validity and reliability of detection of deception for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Podlesny defended the control question test against critics, presenting evidence that it achieved approximately 90% accuracy in field situations and was highly effective with both innocent and guilty subjects. His work was part of the influential University of Utah research program that developed and validated the Comparison Question Test and contributed to computerized polygraph scoring systems. In his 1993 FBI study, he examined the practical applicability of the guilty knowledge technique by reviewing 758 polygraph examination cases from 25 FBI field offices, finding limited real-world utility for this approach in criminal investigations. He also co-authored a 1993 study with C.M. Truslow validating an expanded-issue (modified general question) polygraph technique in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
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Publications [9]
All peer-reviewed studies by John A. Podlesny in our database.
A Paucity of Operable Case Facts Restricts Applicability of the Guilty Knowledge Technique in FBI Criminal Polygraph Examinations
The guilty knowledge technique was applicable in only 5.0%-8.6% of FBI criminal investigations overall, with significantly higher rates in bank robberies (25.0%) and kidnappings (17.2%), demonstrating that practical barriers prevent… [002] 2003 Forensic Sciences CommunicationA Paucity of Operable Case Facto Restricts Applicability of the Guilty Knowledge Technique in FBI Criminal Polygraph Examination
Of 758 FBI criminal examinations, only 6.7% had three or more operable keys available for CIT testing, with 89.2% having zero usable keys—demonstrating that the technique cannot serve as a… [003] 1993 Crime Laboratory DigestIs the Guilty Knowledge Polygraph Technique Applicable in Criminal Investigations? A Review of FBI Case Records
The GKT was deemed applicable in only 13.1% of reviewed FBI criminal cases (95% CI: 4.9%–21.4%), and the majority of remaining cases lacked the operationally necessary crime-specific details even with… [004] 1993 Journal of Applied PsychologyValidity of an Expanded-Issue (Modified General Question) Polygraph Technique in a Simulated Distributed-Crime-Roles Context
The expanded-issue MGQT successfully differentiated guilty participants (thieves and accomplices) from innocent participants at above-chance accuracy levels, while confidants with foreknowledge but no direct criminal participation produced ambiguous physiological profiles,… [005] 1979 Various PublicationsAccuracy of Polygraph Techniques
Reported polygraph accuracy exceeding .90 using the CQT format. This early quantification helped establish the scientific foundation for modern polygraph testing standards. [006] 1979 Psychological BulletinTruth and Deception: A Reply to Lykken
Raskin and Podlesny asserted that the CQT achieves approximately 90% accuracy in real-world applications when properly administered by skilled examiners, with errors tending toward false positives rather than false negatives. [007] 1978 U.S. Government ReportValidity and Reliability of Detection of Deception
Polygraph examinations using control-question or guilty-knowledge tests achieved approximately 90% overall accuracy when properly conducted and numerically scored; examiners employing numerical scoring reached 99% accuracy compared to 88% for those… [008] 1978 • FOUNDATIONAL LAB Journal of Applied PsychologyPhysiological Detection of Deception: A New Approach
Early Utah lab study establishing core mock-crime methodology. Achieved significant discrimination between guilty and innocent groups using physiological measures, validating the basic paradigm. [009] 1977 Psychological BulletinPhysiological Measures and the Detection of Deception
The review concluded that cardiovascular and electrodermal measures showed consistent effectiveness in discriminating between deceptive and truthful subjects, while also identifying the absence of inferential statistics and laboratory-to-field generalizability as…Explore all research.
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