Physiological and Biochemical Measures of Stress Compared to Voice Stress Analysis Using the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA)

Abstract

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Stress and Deception in Speech: Evaluating Layered Voice Analysis*

“…In fact, a significant number of commercial “voice stress analysis” (VSA) systems have been brought to market but, to date, attempts to verify their efficacy have not been very successful. While a few authors suggest that these devices might possibly detect deception‐related psychological stress, at least in certain circumstances (38–41), most research has not supported this position (31,34,35,37,42–44). A recent review of this literature is included in the National Research Council’s 2003 report on the polygraph and other methods of deception detection and credibility assessment, entitled “The Polygraph and Lie Detection.” The scientific panel concluded that “Overall, this research and the few controlled tests conducted over the past decade offer little or no scientific basis for the use of the computer voice stress analyzer or similar voice measurement instruments as an alternative to the polygraph for the detection of deception.…”

“…Many of the effects of stress, especially but also lying to some extent, have been established (2,7,11,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). While it is recognized that lying does not always result in vocal stress (due to sociopathic conditions, stress muted by certain chemical substances and so on), it is still thought to constitute the substrata for deception in the majority of instances (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37).…”

“…In fact, a significant number of commercial ''voice stress analysis'' (VSA) systems have been brought to market but, to date, attempts to verify their efficacy have not been very successful. While a few authors suggest that these devices might possibly detect deceptionrelated psychological stress, at least in certain circumstances (38)(39)(40)(41), most research has not supported this position (31,34,35,37,(42)(43)(44). A recent review of this literature is included in the National Research Council's 2003 report on the polygraph and other methods of deception detection and credibility assessment, entitled ''The Polygraph and Lie Detection.''…”

Ability of the Vericator to Detect Smugglers at a Mock Security Checkpoint

“…DoDPI performed a number of studies on the CVSA to determine whether this device performed as a valid measure of stress or deception. The authors of these studies concluded that the CVSA did not correlate with wellvalidated physiologic responses to acute social stress (DoDPI Research Division Staff, Meyerhoff, Saviolakis, Koenig, & Yourick, 2001) and did not detect deception better than chance (Cestaro, 1996a(Cestaro, , 1996bJanniro & Cestaro, 1998).…”

Violent video games increase voice stress: An experimental study.

“…All that is needed is a recorded voice sample. Second, voice stress analysis devices are relatively inexpensive, require little training, and are easy to use (Meyerhoff, Saviolakis, Koenig & Yourick, 2000).…”