Quote:There are thousands of polygraph tests done each year, and yes there are and will be errors (as it the case with any test), so a few anecdotal stories do not support anything.
Quote: When we run tests in the field, we do confirm some of them independently.
Quote: For example, I ran tests in one case that we .....
Quote: That is why there is a desire for polygraph and truthfulness testing of all sorts.
Quote: Any test that discriminates truth from lies at better than chance rates, no matter how poor
Quote: If, however, we introduce polygraph,(test) what will happen? Assume a polygraph (test) is 80% accurate.
RE: POLYGRAPH TESTS
Refer Letter elsewhere on this site by:
John Furedy, Emeritus Professor of Psychology
University of Toronto
Sydney, Australia
"The Polygraph “Test” Is Not A Test"
"What one would think if one heard that IQ tests “varied among agencies”. Wouldn’t one conclude that these so-called tests were not tests at all, but rather unstandardized interviews where IQ “testers” arrived at their scores by having a conversation with the examinee to determine the examinee’s IQ? Why is it that even North American scientists commonly accept the polygraph as a “test”, and then go on to argue about validity, whereas the argument about validity cannot even begin if one is not dealing with a test.
It would be bad enough if faith in these polygraph “tests” were confined to talk show hosts like Dr. Phil, who deal with personal problems. What is worse is that national security depends on this peculiarly North American superstitious flight of technological fancy."