A device, invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson and first applied by the Berkeley Police Department, that measures and records clinical biomarkers such as blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and skin conductivity while a subject answers questions, in an attempt to detect deception. Its scientific standing is seriously disputed.
Facts
Disputed
Known LimitationThe American Polygraph Association, the field's main professional body, holds that specific-issue formats such as the comparison question technique, administered and scored under its own standards, achieve accuracy rates it reports as high; independent reviewers including a 2003 National Research Council panel found the research base supporting these claims weaker than the field's own estimates, particularly for screening uses rather than a single specific issue. 1 Sourced to the subject's own accountThe American Polygraph Association, the field's main professional body, holds that specific-issue formats such as the comparison question technique, administered and scored under its own standards, achieve accuracy rates it reports as high; independent reviewers including a 2003 National Research Council panel found the research base supporting these claims weaker than the field's own estimates, particularly for screening uses rather than a single specific issue. What It ExaminesSourced to the subject's own accountPhysiological responses, blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and skin conductance, recorded while a subject answers questions, in an attempt to detect deception. 1 Formalized YearSourced to the subject's own accountThe year John Augustus Larson, a medical student at the University of California, Berkeley, invented the modern polygraph; it was first applied in law enforcement by the Berkeley Police Department. Known LimitationSourced to the subject's own accountPolygraph testing rests on the discredited assumption that a specific, reliable physiological signature accompanies lying; the National Academy of Sciences called the supporting evidence scanty and scientifically weak, the American Psychological Association finds little evidence the test can accurately detect lies, and the United States Supreme Court in 1998 described its accuracy as little better than a coin toss. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The American Psychological Association's own position on polygraph accuracy is part of the discipline's documented scientific controversy.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Polygraph
Opening definitionQuote, Opening definition
A device that measures and records several clinical biomarkers, such as blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, and skin conductivity.
1. Wikipedia: Polygraph
1. Wikipedia: Polygraph
Effectiveness sectionQuote, Effectiveness section
Polygraphic assessments rely on the discredited assumption that some physiological mechanisms could reliably account for psychophysiological phenomena supposedly invoked by lying.
Open Questions (1 open question)
Is polygraph testimony reliable enough to admit as evidence?
The polygraph records physiological arousal (heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and skin conductivity), not deception directly, and its accuracy has never been validated to a standard most courts accept. United States courts have almost uniformly excluded polygraph results at trial, and trained subjects can learn countermeasures that defeat the test, yet the technique remains in operational use for screening and investigative leads.
What would resolve this A physiological correlate of deception, distinct from generalized arousal, validated across diverse populations and shown to resist trained countermeasures in blind, controlled studies.
Psychophysiology and forensic psychologyWikipedia: Polygraph
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Known Limitation
The American Polygraph Association maintains that specific-issue polygraph testing, administered under its own quality-control standards, is materially more accurate than the discredited claim of a single deception signature that critics attack, and cites its own commissioned research reporting high accuracy for the comparison question technique; mainstream reviewers, including the 2003 National Research Council report, accepted that specific-issue testing performs better than chance but concluded the evidence does not support its use for broad screening and that estimates of its accuracy vary widely with study design.
A dissenting reading, from American Polygraph AssociationWikipedia: Polygraph
Frequently Asked Questions
Is polygraph testimony admissible in court?
It depends on the jurisdiction. Most United States federal and state courts exclude polygraph results from criminal trials, applying the same reliability standards, such as Daubert or Frye, that have led many courts to find the underlying science insufficiently validated; a minority of states admit results only when both sides agree in advance. Polygraph examinations remain routine in security screening and some law-enforcement pre-employment contexts, which is a different, lower evidentiary bar than admission at trial.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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