William Grimes reviews Ken Alders’ newly released book, The Lie Detectors, (which has previously been mentioned on this blog): March 2, 2007 Books of The Times The Tangled Web of the Truth Machine By WILLIAM GRIMES Its inventor called it the cardio-pneumo-psychograph. To a clutch of coeds in Berkeley, Calif., in 1921, it was a … Read more
On Thursday, 22 February 2007, Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly spoke with retired FBI polygraph operator Jack Trimarco, whom he had hired to administer a polygraph examination to Frederic von Anhalt (who ultimately backed out) regarding the latter’s claim to have fathered the infant daughter of the late Anna Nicole Smith. During the show, Trimarco … Read more
Science correspondent Ronald Bailey reports for Reason magazine on fMRI-based “lie detection” in “Reading Minds: Is Commercial Lie Detection Set to Go?” Excerpt: Evolutionary psychologists suggest that human cooperation is the result of evolved brain mechanisms that enabled our ancestors to detect cheaters. Broadly speaking, cheaters are people who accept a benefit from someone on … Read more
In “City paying legal fees of officer being sued,” Clark Kauffman reports for the Des Moines Register on a defamation lawsuit brought by former Iowa Polygraph Association president James Reistroffer against three members of the association’s ethics committee: Des Moines taxpayers are paying the legal fees of a police officer accused of abusing his position … Read more
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, … Read more
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 … Read more
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, … Read more
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 … Read more
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, … Read more
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, … Read more