The FBI has lied in writing about the accuracy of polygraphy. A new full color leaflet prepared by the FBI Polygraph Unit to promote the Bureau's Personnel Security Polygraph Program states:
Quote:Q: How accurate is the polygraph?
A: Current research continues to show that the polygraph is highly reliable and a valid technique. Your test will receive an opinion by your examiner but will be subject to a quality assurance review to be sure you receive a fair and accurate examination.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which recently conducted a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence on polygraphs, has flatly contradicted the FBI, concluding in its report,
The Polygraph and Lie Detection, that "almost a century of research in scientific psychology and physiology provides little basis for the expectation that a polygraph test could have extremely high accuracy" (
p. 212). Indeed, the NAS found that
"[the polygraph's] accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies." (
p. 6, original emphasis)
Moreover, no amount of "quality assurance review" can assure anyone of a "fair and accurate examination" because
polygraphy has no scientific basis whatsoever. The leaflet also includes the following:
Quote:Q: If I am nervous will this cause me trouble on the polygraph test?
A: It is normal and expected that you will be nervous during the polygraph process. Your polygraph examiner will explain to you the process and eliminate areas of concern that you may have. Feel free to ask your examiner any questions you think are necessary to ask.
One wonders how FBI polygraph examiners propose to eliminate the informed subject's well-justified concerns about the unreliability of polygraphy? In any event, what the FBI does not tell the reader is that if he/she is more nervous when answering the relevant questions (the ones about counterintelligence issues) than when answering the so-called "probable-lie control questions" (e.g., "Did you ever lie to a supervisor?"), answers to which are secretly expected to be untrue, then his/her nervousness may very well result in a false positive outcome. For more on polygraph procedure, see Chapter 3 of
The Lie Behind the Lie Detector (1 mb PDF).
The FBI Personnel Security Polygraph Program leaflet may be downloaded as a 637 kb PDF file here:
http://antipolygraph.org/documents/fbi-psp-leaflet.pdf The plain text of the leaflet is available in HTML format here:
http://antipolygraph.org/documents/fbi-psp-leaflet.shtml