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The document is a reflection paper on what was learned from watching videos about polygraph tests. The 3 main points summarized are: 1) The accuracy of polygraph tests is controversial as there is no evidence that physiological reactions are unique to deception. An honest person can feel nervous and a dishonest person may not feel anxious. 2) Most research has not properly separated the placebo effect of believing the test works from the actual relationship between deception and physiological responses. The test may actually detect fear more than lies. 3) Research shows polygraph tests can detect deception better than chance but with significant error rates. Many factors like the examiner, examinee, techniques used, and countermeasures can influence the validity.

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47 views1 page

Project 4

The document is a reflection paper on what was learned from watching videos about polygraph tests. The 3 main points summarized are: 1) The accuracy of polygraph tests is controversial as there is no evidence that physiological reactions are unique to deception. An honest person can feel nervous and a dishonest person may not feel anxious. 2) Most research has not properly separated the placebo effect of believing the test works from the actual relationship between deception and physiological responses. The test may actually detect fear more than lies. 3) Research shows polygraph tests can detect deception better than chance but with significant error rates. Many factors like the examiner, examinee, techniques used, and countermeasures can influence the validity.

Uploaded by

Bella Ciao
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UMBAR, SHALIMAR B.

FORENSIC 5 2/8/23

3RD YEAR COLLEGE

BS – CRIMINOLOGY

REFLECTION PAPER 3

Make a reflection paper on what you have learned on this videos.

The Truth about of Polygraph

After watching the videos on "The truth about polygraph”, I have learned that the
accuracy of polygraph testing has long been controversial. An underlying problem is theoretical:
There is no evidence that any pattern of physiological reactions is unique to deception. An honest
person may be nervous when answering truthfully and a dishonest person may be non-anxious.
Also, there are few good studies that validate the ability of polygraph procedures to detect
deception. As Dr. Saxe and Israeli psychologist Gershon Ben-Shahar (1999) note, "it may, in
fact, be impossible to conduct a proper validity study." In real-world situations, it's very difficult
to know what the truth is. 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. One reason that polygraph
tests may appear to be accurate is that subjects who believe that the test works and that they can
be detected may confess or will be very anxious when questioned. If this view is correct, the lie
detector might be better called a fear detector. Some confusion about polygraph test accuracy
arises because they are used for different purposes, and for each context somewhat different
theory and research is applicable. Thus, for example, virtually no research assesses the type of
test and procedure used to screen individuals for jobs and security clearances. Most research has
focused on specific incident testing. The cumulative research evidence suggests that CQTs detect
deception better than chance, but with significant error rates, both of misclassifying innocent
subjects (false positives) and failing to detect guilty individuals (false negatives). Research on
the processes involved in CQT polygraph examinations suggests that several examiner,
examinee, and situational factors influence test validity, as may the technique used to score
polygraph charts. There is little research on the effects of subjects' differences in such factors as
education, intelligence, or level of autonomic arousal. Evidence indicates that strategies used to
"beat" polygraph examinations, so-called countermeasures, may be effective. Countermeasures
include simple physical movements, psychological interventions, and the use of pharmacological
agents that alter arousal patterns. Despite the lack of good research validating polygraph tests,
efforts are on-going to develop and assess new approaches. Some work involves use of
additional autonomic physiologic indicators, such as cardiac output and skin temperature. Such
measures, however, are more specific to deception than polygraph tests.

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