Polygraph One Pager

Have you ever watched a movie or a TV show and wondered how the lie detectors work? Have you ever questioned whether or not those lie detectors are completely accurate? Most people claim that these lie detectors can’t possibly be wrong. It’s a very common assumption considering how we see these being used as proof in multiple shows and movies, but you will soon come to find that these devices may not be as accurate as you originally thought.

While looking on the American Psychological Association, I found an interesting article on the reliability of polygraphs (also known as lie detectors). As the author writes, “Evidence indicates that strategies used to "beat" polygraph examinations, so-called countermeasures, may be effective”. In other words, the author is trying to get across that the polygraph tests may not be as accurate as you think. As the author said, you can fool a polygraph test using common countermeasures to ensure not getting caught. Some of these countermeasures include, simple physical movements and manipulation. The author also states that “A particular problem is that polygraph research has not separated placebo-like effects (the subject's belief in the efficacy of the procedure) from the actual relationship between deception and their physiological responses”. This proves that the polygraph tests aren’t accurate a majority of the time due to outside factors that could cause physical reaction. These outside factors could cause the polygraph to detect lies even when the participant is telling the truth.

As for me, I, like many others, used to think that polygraph tests were more accurate than not when it came to detecting lies. But after reading this article, I’m starting to have different thoughts. The evidence in this article led me to realize that more goes into detecting lies than what I originally thought. I never realized that outside factors could influence the data, causing the results to be skewed. In conclusion, I came to find that I was wrong about the accuracy of the polygraph and came away having learned some valuable new information that will help me and my partner further our research in lying.