Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Associated Press writer Mike Robinson reports on the use of polygraphs by the state of Illinois in this article reported by KARE11.com: Polygraph tests used to help decide whether to free sexually violent offenders held at a state center in Joliet after finishing prison sentences are unscientific and even “biased against truthful people,” according to …
Dan Vergano reports for USA Today. Excerpt: A long-time law enforcement favorite, the lie detector, now finds itself sweating the hot lights of scientific inquiry. Crime dramas have long depicted the polygraph’s tangle of wires and wiggling chart lines uncovering lies during a hard-boiled criminal interrogation. As suspects are questioned, the device checks for sweaty …
Greg Lavine reports for the Salt Lake Tribune. Excerpt: Academic experts who study lie detection say that polygraph tests can play a useful role in cases such as the abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, but the scientific community remains divided over whether such examinations can accurately determine guilt or innocence. At least two family members, …
Associated Press correspondent Jesse J. Holland reports on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s 25 April hearing on “Issues Surrounding the Use of Polygraphs.” Note that the only scientific expert among the witnesses who spoke was Professor William G. Iacono. Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI might have started earlier to investigate Robert Hanssen, the …
Los Alamos Monitor assistant editor Roger Snodrass reports on a recent talk by Professor William G. Iacono at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Excerpt: Conventional “lie-detecting” is an outdated and dubious practice that is inherently biased against innocent people. That is the conclusion of William Iacono, a psychology professor from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, who …