Grounds for Using Psychophysiological Polygraph Examination of Applicants for Law Enforcement Service

Introduction. The paper comprises the description of foreign and domestic theories devoted to special psychophysiological examination via polygraph, which attempt to provide scientific proof of dependence of physiological reactions of the examinee under polygraph examination on the suggested stimulus containing important information the examinee is trying to conceal. The purpose is to analyze and synthesize the problems of scientific theoretical approaches of the special psychophysiological examination via polygraph. Results and Discussion. Despite the existence of more than two dozen theories, none of them is generally accepted, which indicates the complexity of the ongoing process during polygraph testing, which is expressed in the occurrence of a psychophysiological reaction of the examinee to the suggested stimulus significant to him. The authors of earlier scientific views took as a basis one mental phenomenon or property of the nervous system. This approach was reflected in one-component theories of the polygraph. Multi-component theories, in contrast to single-component ones, explain the psychophysiological phenomenon, taking as a basis a complex of mental functions or several spheres of the personality simultaneously. This approach is the most objective one, since from the moment a significant stimulus is presented to the occurring of physiological reactions recorded by a polygraph, numerous mental processes of the subject are working. Physiological reactions in response to a relevant stimulus during a special psychophysiological examination via polygraph can be explained and interpreted with regard to the integration of scientific theories that allow taking into account the work of a complex of mental functions and personality spheres. Conclusions. The approach expressed in multicomponent theories is objective and promising and takes into account the numerous components of a complex psychophysiological phenomenon. The combination and integration of theories provide even greater prospects for explaining the psychophysiological reactions that arise in response to the suggested significant stimulus.