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Reporting: Summary
School and life
In a paragraph of not more than 100 words, say what are the various ways
in which this machine can be used, and what are the objections to its use.
Lie detector
A new form of lie detector that works by voice analysis and which can be used
without a subject’s knowledge has been introduced in Britain. The unit is
already widely employed by the police and private industry in the US, and some
of its applications there raise serious worries about its potential here. The
Dektor psychological stress analyser (PSE) is used by private industry for pre-
employment screening, investigating thefts, and even periodic staff checks.
Although at least 600 of the devices are used in the US, there are apparently
only three in Britain. Burns International Security Services showed its PSE at
the International Fire and Security Exhibition in London last week. Philip Hicks,
assistant manager of Burns’ Electron Division and the Burns official trained to
use the PSE, said that one of the other two units was being employed by a
private firm for pre-employment checks.
In addition to the normally understood voice generation mechanisms -
vibrations of the vocal chords and resonance of cavities inside the head - there
is a third component caused by vibration of the muscles inside the mouth and
throat. Normally, but not under stress, these voluntary muscles vibrate at 8-12
Hz, and this adds a clearly noticeable frequency-modulated component to the
voice. The PSE works by analysing this infrasonic FM component. Dektor
claims that the muscle tightening occurs very quickly, and can change from one
word to the next, so that it is possible to pick out a word or phrase that caused
stress.
Dektor emphasises that the device shows only stress, not dishonesty. Three
steps are suggested to overcome this difficulty. First, the subject is supposed to
see a full list of the questions in advance. Second, there are ‘neutral’ questions
and one to which the subject is specifically asked to lie. Third, if an individual
shows stress on a vital question (such as Have you stolen more than £100 in
the last six months?), then additional questions must be asked to ensure that
this does not reflect an earlier theft or the subject’s knowledge of someone else
responsible.
The standard report recommended by Dektor is simply the statement ‘After
careful analysis, it is the opinion of this Examiner that the Subject’s chart did
contain specific reaction, indicative of deception, to the relevant questions listed
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below.’ And Hicks admitted that if a person showed stress and Hicks was
unable to ascertain just what caused the stress, he would assume that the
stress was ‘indicative of deception’.
In the US, the device is used for pre-employment interviews, with questions
such as ‘Have you used marihuana?’ and for monthly checks with branch
managers, asking questions like ‘Do you suspect any present employees of
cheating the company?’- which at least prevents a manager from setting his
own pace to investigate possibly suspicious behaviour. Finally, US insurance
investigators are now using the PSE. They need not carry it with them - only
tape record the interview, usually with the permission of the unsuspecting
claimant. Not only does an assessor go through the claim form to look for false
claims (a questionable practice, because a person is just as likely to stress over
being reminded of a lost or damaged object as to lying), but he also offers less
money than requested. The claimant’s response can, apparently, be analysed
to show if he is, in fact, likely to eventually accept.
The potential application of the PSE in Britain is extremely disquieting,
especially as there seems no law to prevent its use. The most serious problem
is that its primary application will be in situations where people may not object -
such as pre-employment interviews. But it can also be used to probe a whole
range of personal issues totally unrelated to job - union and political affiliations,
for example. And, of course, the PSE can be used without the subject even
knowing; its inventors analysed the televised Watergate hearings and told the
press who they thought was lying. Finally, the device is not foolproof but
depends on the skill of the investigator, who receives only a one-week course
from Dektor.
In the US, where lie detectors of all sorts are much more widely used, Senator
Sam J. Ervin has introduced a bill to virtually prohibit their use by private
companies. There may be a privacy bill from the UK government this summer,
and hopefully it will include the use of lie detectors. In the interim, trade unions
and consumer groups should prevent their use before they become
widespread.
Lie detector
Suggested answer.
According to the manufacturers, the machine can help both police and private industry to
investigate people's honesty. Firms can use it to test applicants for jobs; for instance, to
check on drug use or political attitudes, and to see whether their staff are honest. Insurance
investigators could use it to detect false claims, and to see whether clients will accept less
money than they should get. There are three main objections: the machine only detects
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stress, which may not be due to dishonesty; it could be used for political control; and its
accuracy depends on the skill of the operator.
Summary
Exercise 6
Read the text carefully, and try to sum up (in one sentence if possible) the
two or three main points, which the writer is making.
Gun control
A student of the gun control issue will readily perceive the arena is indeed a
broad one, in which we must struggle to preserve the right to keep and bear
arms. It is a struggle which will test whatever there might be of genius in any of
us and it is one which will merit the devoted efforts of every citizen who in the
broadest sense can perceive the relationships which our Bill of Rights liberties
bear one to another.
I suggest we begin our affirmative role immediately in the area of crime control.
The truth is that gun control does not equate with crime control. We have an
advantage in this fact which we have neither exploited nor advanced
convincingly. It is demonstrable that in those sections of the country where gun
possession is most prevalent, crime is least.
Encouragingly, many moderate and reasonable men among our opponents are
beginning to see that our problem is crime control and that gun control is not
going to have much, if any, effect upon it. Of course, for reasons of their own,
some of them still say gun control is desirable. For these people we can only
wonder, as would any good citizen, what it is they have in mind for us that our
possession of guns makes them so nervous.
As long as we concur that any measure of gun control equates with some
measure of crime control we are in agreement with those who would eliminate
our rights. We would then again be backed into our defensive position, held for
forty years, always losing a little here and a little there until finally nothing would
be left us.
No group of good citizens has ever struggled more conscientiously along the
narrow pathway, between hope and moderation on one hand, and the cold
facts of efforts to abolish our rights on the other, than the leaders of the
National Rifle Association. Every gun owner in America should applaud the
action taken by the Executive Committee of the NRA in Washington, D.C. on
July 12, 1974: ‘...the NRA opposes any proposed legislation, at any level of
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government, which is directed against the inanimate firearm rather than against
the criminal misuse of firearms.’
A reasonable degree of order in society must prevail first. Criminals must be
controlled first. We are the decent people. We try to be reasonable and we are
not fools even though we have so often made mistakes in the past 40 years.
Many people turn to England as an example for crime control. The fact is that in
England, for hundreds of years, a man found guilty of any one of number of
crimes was promptly hanged. Now that a more humanistic generation of
Englishmen has lately abolished these stern but effective methods, crime -
including armed crime - is sky-rocketing. Recently armed Englishmen, amid a
hail of their own bullets, attempted to kidnap the eldest daughter of the reigning
Queen of England! Unbelievable!
(From an article in Guns and Ammo by Harlan Carter)
Gun control
Suggested answer.
The writer believes that gun-owners are good citizens, and everyone should be free to own
guns. If we wish to reduce crime, we should not ban guns, but impose harsher punishments
for criminals.
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