George W. Maschke
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Make-believe science yields
make-believe security.
Posts: 6211
Joined: Sep 29
th , 2000
$210k DOJ Grant for Polygraph Reliability Study
st , 2005 at 5:35pm
Mark & Quote Quote Print Post
Mark Karpf reports for the
Daily Nebraskan: Quote: http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/30/433cbbdcd2823 UNK gets grant for polygraph study Only four years ago, the Department of Energy spent roughly four times as much as the Department of Justice is now spending to fund a research review by the National Academy of Sciences, which published its findings in its report,
The Polygraph and Lie Detection . Key findings of that report included:
Quote: 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);The theoretical rationale for the polygraph is quite weak, especially in terms of differential fear, arousal, or other emotional states that are triggered in response to relevant or comparison questions (p. 213);Research on the polygraph has not progressed over time in the manner of a typical scientific field. It has not accumulated knowledge or strengthened its scientific underpinnings in any significant manner (p. 213);The inherent ambiguity of the physiological measures used in the polygraph suggest that further investments in improving polygraph technique and interpretation will bring only modest improvements in accuracy (p. 213);Polygraph testing yields an unacceptable choice for…employee security screening between too many loyal employees falsely judged deceptive and too many major security threats left undetected. Its 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. 219);Overconfidence in the polygraph--a belief in its accuracy not justified by the evidence--presents a danger to national security objectives. (p. 219).But the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, and all other federal agencies that rely on polygraph screening have willfully ignored the findings of the nation's premiere scientific organization, just as they ignored the overwhelmingly negative
findings of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment in 1983 and a 1976 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations report (The Use of Polygraphs and Similar Devices by Federal Agencies, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, Report No. 94-795. Reprinted in
Polygraph, Vol. 5 [1976], No. 1, pp. 2–58) that concluded:
"It is the recommendation of the committee that the use of polygraphs and similar devices be discontinued by all Government agencies for all purposes." If government agencies are going to ignore the results of taxpayer-funded research, then why bother?
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$210k DOJ Grant for Polygraph Reliability Study (Read 1661 times)
