Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
On 31 October 2006, AntiPolygraph.org posted the FBI file (736 kb PDF) of William Moulton Marston, the father of the so-called lie detector test; an explanatory note is available on the message board. The popular tech website Slashdot.org has published an announcement of the news submitted by AntiPolygraph.org’s George Maschke, in response to which numerous …
In a must-read feature article titled “Brain on Fire” (30 October 2006, p. C01), Washington Post staff writer Joel Garreau reports on fMRI-based lie detector testing, including a test that he himself underwent at the University of Pennsylvania’s Brain Behavior Center.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV), who is running for governor in Nevada, is willing to take a polygraph test to prove that he did not make a sexual advance against cocktail waitress Chrissy Mazzeo, who had earlier voiced her willingness to take a polygraph test to prove the truthfulness of …
Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff, M.D. comments on the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent decision to scale back its polygraph screening program in an Albuquerque Journal op-ed article titled, “DOE Quietly Backs Away from Voodoo of Polygraphs.” In 2003, Dr. Zelicoff was forced out of his job at Sandia National Laboratories because his work to disprove …
Amos Harel reports for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in an article tiled, “IDF Officers to Get Polygraphs Over War Leaks”: Dozens of officers will be questioned with a lie detector about their contacts with journalists, as part of a probe of leaks to the media during the recent Lebanon war. Military Advocate General Brigadier Avihai …
An Indiana jury found that the Indiana State Police acted negligently in its conduct of a polygraph examination of a parole officer who was fired after a panel of judges was told he had failed the polygraph. William J. Booher reports for the Indianapolis Star in an article titled, “Man Wins $600-k in Lie Detector …
In “Lie detectors to be left out of the spy game,” Simon Kearney reports for The Australian on the decision by that country’s intelligence service to reject polygraph screening: Lie detectors to be left out of the spy game Simon KearneyOctober 20, 2006 AUSTRALIAN spy agencies have abandoned plans to introduce lie-detector tests after a …
In “Betrayed By Your Brain?” (9 October 2006) Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Faye Flam reports on No Lie MRI, a Philadelphia start-up company that will soon offer “lie detection” services to the public: Betrayed by your brain? A Phila. company is poised to offer a lie-detecting MRI, though questions about its reliability remain. By Faye …
Andrew Stephen skewers polygraphy in this feature article published in the 16 October 2006 issue of the British periodical, the New Statesman: The truth about the lie detector Features Andrew Stephen Monday 16th October 2006 Critics claim that polygraph testing is as credible as the tooth fairy or witchcraft. Yet the US government still relies …
Roger Snodgrass of the Los Alamos, New Mexico Monitor reports on the newly revised Department of Energy polygraph policy in an 11 October 2006 article titled “DOE Curbs Polygraphs”: The Department of Energy has published a new final rule for how it will use polygraph tests, claiming it will “significantly” reduce the numbers of people …