Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Smithsonian magazine has published in its February 2007 issue an article by Eric Jaffe titled, “Detecting Lies.” Excerpt: An early form of lie detection existed in India 2,000 years ago. Back then, a potential liar was told to place a grain of rice in his mouth, and chew. If he could spit out the rice, …
Steven Aftergood reports in the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News newsletter & blog that on 25 January 2007, the Department of Defense issued a new directive governing polygraph policy: The Department of Defense has revised and supplemented its polygraph program to include non-polygraph techniques for detecting deception. A new Pentagon directive (pdf) introduces the …
The man who allegedly assaulted Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel in a San Francisco hotel elevator is demanding that the latter submit to a polygraph test. The San Francisco Examiner reports on the incident in an article titled, “Nobel laureate accosted at peace conference.” Excerpt: SAN FRANCISCO – In a bizarre attack, …
Northwest University professor of history Ken Alder has authored a history of polygraphy. The Lie Detectors: History of an American Obsession (Free Press, 2007) will become available on 6 March 2007. An excerpt is available here. Alder will be conducting a book tour currently scheduled for the following cities and dates: New York, NY (6 …
Science writer Christie Nicholson has posted her informative article, “Thinking It Over: fMRI and Psychological Science” (Observer, Vol. 19, No. 9 [September 2006]) to her blog.
Emily Singer reports for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review in “Imaging Deception in the Brain” (Wed., 7 Feb. 2007). Excerpt: Polygraph tests are notoriously unreliable, yet thousands of employers, attorneys, and law-enforcement officials use them routinely. Could an alternative system using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a technology that indirectly measures brain activity, …
In this 1986 exposé of the polygraph trade, CBS 60 Minutes set up a test in which three polygraph examiners chosen at random from the New York telephone directory were asked to administer polygraph examinations to four different employees of the CBS-owned magazine, Popular Photography, regarding the theft of a camera and lens. In fact, …
Oregon is one of five U.S. states that have wisely enacted a total ban on polygraphy in the workplace. But some Oregon chiefs of police are seeking an exemption for law enforcement agencies, as Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian reports in “Police Push to Polygraph Hires”: Anyone interested in wearing a police badge in Oregon …
Washington Times reporter Jerry Seper reports in “GOP Urges Berger Lie Test” (24 January 2007). Excerpt: Eighteen House Republicans have urged the Justice Department to proceed with a polygraph test for Samuel R. Berger, the former national security adviser who agreed to take the test as part of a plea of guilty of stealing documents …
On 12 December 2001, CBS 60 Minutes II aired an investigative report on polygraph screening. Produced by Shawn Efran and reported by Scott Pelley, the report takes an in-depth look at the U.S. Government’s misplaced reliance on polygraph screening. The concerns raised in this report remain as valid today as they were five years ago. …