StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Polygraphs: How reliable can they be - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Khalid Al-Mesalam Lupco Spasovski ENG 107 March 3, 2011 Polygraphs: How Reliable Can They Be? People like to think there is an objective measurement that will be able to easily describe the emotional and psychological states of individual people on a sheet of paper…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98% of users find it useful
Polygraphs: How reliable can they be
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Polygraphs: How reliable can they be"

Download file to see previous pages

In this manner, they are usually thought to express guilt even when the subject of the test is professing innocence. Many believe the polygraph to be accurate, especially those who have a financial commitment to employing the technique on individuals (TheftStopper). In addition, the technique is intuitively appealing because of what it claims to measure. The appeal of being able to tell a lie from truth has universal implications, unless it is too good to be true. In fact, there are countless misconceptions about the accuracy and scope of measurement that polygraphs are capable of.

Despite a reputation for being able to cut through verbal responses to measure physiological behaviors, there is no scientific valid measure for ensuring polygraph accuracy and thus is it is not scientifically respected among psychologists or lawyers. Because polygraph testing lacks of validity in its ability to differentiate lies from truths, misconceptions about their effectiveness ought to be dispelled in the public, which is in part the purpose of this paper. A polygraph test is a measurement conducted by an instrument that measures physiological behaviors such as pulse, skin conductivity, blood pressure, and respiration through the duration of an interview.

As a subject is asked questions, the test theoretically measures changes in how the subject responds as a means of differentiating between deceptive answers and truthful answers. When a subject answers a question with very little behavioral response, a recording instrument moves very slightly or not at all outside of the normal range. When a subject answers a question with a heavy behavioral response, that instrument moves outside of the normal range, indicating that the subject became more nervous or responsive to the interrogator during the process.

Verschuere, Meijer and De Clercq (2010) believe this is the result of stress caused by having to answer the question deceptively, as opposed to the ease with which individuals answers questions truthfully. In addition, this assumes that the subject being interrogated is uncomfortable with lying. Nevertheless, Iacono (2001) doubts this from a psychological perspective with respect to the assumption that polygraph subjects will be less nervous in answering control questions. Advocates of polygraph testing claim that, when properly conducted, the test has a 90 to 95 percent rate of validity (TheftStopper).

However, there is sufficient reason to doubt that such testing procedures have any rate of accuracy above chance. One misconception about polygraphs is that they actually measure lies versus truth . The claim that a lie is being detected in a polygraph measurement relies on the assumption that the physiological responses to a question being asked to the subject being tested actually reflect the lie (OTA). While these physiological responses are physical behaviors, a lie is the product of a mental effort and thought process, which makes the connection between the two difficult to define exactly.

For that reason, it is a common misperception that polygraphs tests are actually “lie-detecting tests” by themselves, by objectively teasing apart lie from truth (Iacono). Indeed, the “lie” and “truth” responses on a polygraph have to be interpreted by the test-giver, who is presumably an expert in reading charts produced by the test, which means the test itself is not

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Polygraphs: How reliable can they be Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1413952-polygraphs-how-reliable-can-they-be
(Polygraphs: How Reliable Can They Be Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1413952-polygraphs-how-reliable-can-they-be.
“Polygraphs: How Reliable Can They Be Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1413952-polygraphs-how-reliable-can-they-be.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Polygraphs: How reliable can they be

The Use of Polygraph Testing as Evidence

The validity of the polygraph testing to be used as an evidence has been questioned by many scientists who made several studies on the matter saying that it is not a reliable means of knowing if someone is telling the truth or not.... This argument however has been countered by… National Security who maintained that this machine is their best investigative tool and has recommended to the US Congress the use of lie detector tests for their investigations....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Purpose Statement, Review, and Development

One may also notice that there has been no consensus on the utility of polygraphs in national security, and the topic has always been one of the most controversial questions in the national security sector.... The sub-panel of Sandia's Senior Scientists and Engineers who made a profound analysis on ‘polygraphs and Security' concluded that “there is no adequate scientific basis for this assumption.... No specific polygraphic or behavioral response has been directly linked to the act of deception…” (polygraphs and Security, 1999)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Danger of Using Lie Detector

One question that is emerging is; how reliable are the polygraph tests?... Various cultures of the world can be distinguished on the basis of how it copes with deceit, the types of lies it denounces, the type of institutions it fashions to expose the deceits(Messer and Jones, p 108).... The instrument has become one of the greatest projects of the twentieth century, aiming at improving the effort to transform the central moral question of our collective life and how to fashion a just society....
9 Pages (2250 words) Case Study

Should Polygraph Tests be Admissible at Trial as Valid Scientific Evidence

The idea behind the test is that lying creates stress for the person telling the lie, and this stress can be measured by changes in the above physiological responses.... According to White in his article Ask Me No Questions, Tell Me No Lies, the Pentagon compels over 23,000 polygraph exams each year, and the majority of the nation's police and sheriff's departments use polygraphs as part of their pre-employment screening.... The FBI currently requires polygraphs of new agents, as do private companies performing government work, such as nuclear energy facilities, those that engage in the transportation or storage of toxic waste, and those that supply proprietary information, to name a few....
11 Pages (2750 words) Literature review

Polygraph: Its Admissibility in Court

hellip; Scientists do not consider polygraphs as reliable and accurate lie-detector.... Those accepted and turned to polygraphs had to change their opinions.... This report "Polygraph: Its Admissibility in Court" presents a polygraph that is an instrument with the help of which physiological responses in a suspect are noted when he is questioned in order to determine if the answer given by him is true or false....
5 Pages (1250 words) Report

The Utility of Polygraphs in National Security

A summary of scientific opinion from a recent survey concludes that most psychology experts do not consider polygraphy to be technically sound and even more believe that skilled subversives can defeat polygraph tests.... Experts from all fields including scientists, psychologists, psychophysiologists, medical men, and the legal fraternity have opined that polygraph tests, besides being far from completely reliable, have limited usefulness.... This work called "The Utility of polygraphs in National Security" describes the polygraphs in order to fight with terrorism, espionage activity, international crimes, and nuclear threats....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

The Utility of Polygraph as an Investigative Tool in National Security

In fact, there have been differences of opinion on the question and only a qualitative research investigation into the utility of polygraph with regard to national security can offer a logical conclusion on this challenging topic.... “Despite the widespread acceptance of polygraph testing utility, empirical data indicating how often admissions and confessions lead to investigative breakthroughs is unavailable....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Proposal

Do Lie Detectors Accurately Test Truthful Statements

Polygraphs work by measuring physiological factors such as blood pressure, skin conductivity, respiration, and pulse the results of which can be used to determine whether or not a person is telling the truth or lying (Rosky, 2012).... This phase may be succeeded by a stimulation test which serves to demonstrate to the subject how accurate the instrument is.... The author argues that in spite of the wide use of polygraphs by criminal investigation authorities in many countries, there is little evidence to support their accuracy and effectiveness in detecting lies, therefore, they should not be relied on as evidence in court rulings....
11 Pages (2750 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us