A polygraph test can record a person's breathing rate, pulse, blood pressure, perspiration and other significant physiological changes that suggest a person is lying, but it should not be used as evidence in a court of law because it does not provide reliable proof of a person's physical reaction to the stress of lying.
A lie detector is a machine that tries to detect if a person is lying (“Lie detector.”31 of 2). Over the centuries different people and cultures have tried to find a way to see if someone is lying. The Chinese would make a person who was a suspect of a crime chew and spit out some rice powder after being questioned. If the powder was dry the person was guilty because they thought someone whose mouth is dry is guilty and if it was moist they were innocent (Lie detector1 1 of 2). Also the english would give a suspect a slice of bread and cheese if they could swollow it they were innocent, but if they could not they were guilty this is saying that people would have trouble swolling if they were guilty (Lie detector1 1 of 2). “The first scientific instrument designed to measure physiological respones to questioning was used in 1895 by an italian criminologist, Cesare Lombroso, he took an existing device called a hydrosphygmegraph – a small, water-filled tank in which a subjects hand was submerged. The tank was then sealed by a thin sheet of rubber. Any changes in the subject’s pulse or blood pressure would be transferred through the hand to the water and would change the water level. When the water level changed, a difference in air pressure resulted. The air pressure was monitored by an air-filled tube connected to a revolving drum. Lombroso’s device coud detect any physical changes in pulse and blood pressure. Some...
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...n Context. Web. 19 November 2013."Lie detector."1 UXL Science. U*X*L, 2008 Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 November 2013.
"Lie Detector."2 Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Middle Search Plus. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
"Lie detectors blend fact and fiction." Science News 1 Jan. 2011: 26. Student Resources in Context. Web. 20 Novenber 2013.
McLaughlin, Sabrina. "Liar, liar! Do polygraphs tell the truth?" Curent Science, a Weekly Reader puplication 5 Dec. 2003: 10+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 20 November 2013.
Perina, Kaja. "Brain scans may be foolproof lie detectors. (Truth Serum)." Psychology Today Jan.-Feb. 2002: \. Student Resources in Context. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Ruscio, John. "Exploring controversies in the art and science of polygraph testing." Skeptical Inquirer Jan.-Feb. 2005: 34+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
One of the last types of ways investigators are coached to detect deception is in the behavioral attitudes of a person being interviewed such as being unconcerned or over anxious (Kassin, 2005). The success rate of looking for these cues are very successful in telling if an individual is being deceitful and has surpassed any laboratory tests conducted on the subject. The laboratory test however did reveal some interesting facts. The research showed that people who had training and experience did not score better than the control group who received no training. In fact all individuals scored at the chance level with the people who had training scored just above chance or at the chance level. To check if special training in the detection of deception was more accurate a study ...
Feature, Heather HatfieldWebMD. "10 Ways to Catch a Liar." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
Newring, K. B., & O'Donohue, W. (2008). False confessions and influenced witnesses. Applied Psychology In Criminal Justice, 4(1), 81-107.
In Laurence Armand French Ph.D. and Thomas J. Young Ph.D.’s article The False Memory Syndrome: Clinical/Legal Issues for the Prosecution talks about memory recall being an unreliable form of evidence in the Criminal Justice System. French and Young state that hypnosis and lie detector tests are a misconception because “the cognitive interpretations of the emotional/autonomic aspects of the central nervous (CNS) and peripheral nervous systems are not true indicators of reality,” (p. 38).
Garrett, B. L. (n.d.). The Substance of False Confessions. Criminal Justice Collection. Retrieved November 23, 2010, from find.galegroup.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28su%2CNone%2C28%29%22Wrongful+Convictions+%28Law%29%22%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28RE%2CNone%2C3%29ref%24&sgHitCo
Skolnick, J. H., & Leo, R. A. (1992, January 1). The ethics of deceptive interrogation. Criminal Justice Ethics, 11(1). Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The ethics of deceptive interrogation.-a012396024
Ofshe, Richard J., and Richard A. Leo. The Social Psychology of Police Interrogation: The Theory and Classification of True and False Confessions (1997). Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
George Maschke and Gino Scalabrini write, “But fear of being falsely accused may also entail physiological responses measurable by the polygraph and result in truthful persons being accused of deception” (p. 89). The America Psychology Association writes, “An honest person may be nervous when answering truthfully and a dishonest person may be non-anxious. (para. 7).Being nervous because of a test and being scared of being falsely accused could portray the idea of being guilty, when really that is not true. Someone just nervous because of the test could produce inaccurate results.
One of the components of Reid approach is training the interrogators to establish whether a suspect is lying or telling the truth by evaluating the nonverbal and verbal behavior during the interview. Many people question the effectiveness of interrogation training in assisting to discern truth from suspects. According Professor Richard Leo, people are poor in drawing accurate judgments of deception and truth (Leo, 2013). The behavior prompts used police are not diagnostic of deception, the investigators cannot differentiate false from truth denials of guilt, and yet they maintain they draw accurate
In Gabbert’s social misinformation experiment, researchers have found that misinformation received from social sources are more likely to be imprinted into a subjects memory and be recalled later. It can even have an effect on memories not even discussed. This can be detrimental to not only everyday scenarios but in a police investigation it can be harmful to the investigation. In an investigation if witnesses discuss what occurred and one gives a false memory then the police may arrest the wrong suspect. This is also important if the investigation...
Sutliff, Usha. “‘Liars’ Brains Wired Differently.” USC News. USC University of Southern California. 19 Sept. 2005. Web. 11 December 2013.
Roesch, R., & Rogers, B. (2011). The cambridge handbook of forensic psychology. Canadian Psychology, 52(3), 242-242-243.
The polygraph test, introduced nearly a century ago, has been widely used in the detection of deception and for some time, has been considered by law enforcement representatives, an exceptionally valid testing apparatus. The media and law enforcement representatives describe the various methods of detecting deception to be extremely valid and reliable in detecting deceptive cues, although the various research done through field studies and controlled experiments demonstrate significant error rates amongst the various testing procedures used. Physiological responses of an individual may vary from person to person. No matter how small the error rate may be, there is always a chance that environmental conditions as well as physiological conditions induced by the individual or the interpreter can have an effect on the interpretational conclusion of what were considered to be deceptive cues. These influential factors may illustrate a small positive or negative error rate, but when the conclusion is applied to a conviction, it can possibly establish or distinguish false results to be accurate or inconclusive.
The polygraph is a very controversial topic when comes to the introduction of the techniques into court. The polygraph technique has not changed since first developed in 1895. What the polygraph does is measures the blood pressure fluctuation, pulse rate and respiratory rate changes. The rate of the blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rate not only changes due to the body being stressed because the person is lying, but it also changes due to anxiety, anger and medical conditions. This will affect the accuracy on the technique and give inconsistent readings within the results (Gailus, C., 2008, November
Means of lie detection were used far before the modern polygraph was invented. For example, in the 18th century, a person’s hand was placed in a boiling pot of water and if their hand burned, then they were determined to be lying (The History and Basic Facts of Polygraph, 2009). Eventually the...