Editing Polygraph (section)

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific device that attempts to infer lying}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Lie Detector}}
[[File:Leonarde Keeler 1937.jpg|thumb|American inventor [[Leonarde Keeler]] testing his improved polygraph on [[Arthur Koehler]], a former witness for the prosecution at the 1935 trial of [[Richard Hauptmann]]]]
A '''polygraph''', often incorrectly referred to as a '''lie detector test''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lie_detector_test|title=lie detector test|publisher=[[Legal Information Institute]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 2020|access-date=July 27, 2022|archivedate=March 5, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305085649/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lie_detector_test}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apa.org/topics/cognitive-neuroscience/polygraph|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|title=The Truth About Lie Detectors (aka Polygraph Tests)|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=2004|access-date=July 27, 2022|archivedate=March 5, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305085649/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lie_detector_test}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92847&page=1|title=Polygraphs Accurate But Not Foolproof|author=Robinson, Bryan|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=July 14, 2001|access-date=July 27, 2022|archivedate=April 20, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420002433/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92847&page=1}}</ref> is a [[pseudoscientific]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States v. Scheffer: A U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Polygraph Testing |url=https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/polygraph/scheffer.html |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]|date=March 31, 1998|access-date=November 11, 2023|archive-date=November 11, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231111193602/https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/polygraph/scheffer.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saxe |first=Leonard |date=July 1991 |title=Science and the CQT polygraph. |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02912514 |journal=Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=223–231|doi=10.1007/BF02912514 |pmid=1954162 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=NatResearchCouncil>{{cite book|title=The Polygraph and Lie Detection|author=Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences and Education (BCSSE) and Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT)|publisher=[[National Research Council (United States)|National Research Council]] |url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10420/chapter/1|doi= 10.17226/10420 |isbn= 978-0-309-26392-4|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=March 19, 2013|access-date=November 11, 2023|archive-date=November 11, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231111191525/https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10420/the-polygraph-and-lie-detection}}</ref> device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as [[blood pressure]], [[pulse]], [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]], and [[Electrodermal activity|skin conductivity]] while a person is asked and answers a series of questions.<ref>{{cite journal|author=J P Rosenfeld|title=Alternative Views of Bashore and Rapp's (1993) alternatives to traditional polygraphy: a critique|year=1995|journal=Psychological Bulletin|doi=10.1037/0033-2909.117.1.159|volume=117|pages=159–166}}</ref> The belief underpinning the use of the polygraph is that deceptive answers will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive answers; however, there are no specific physiological reactions associated with [[lying]], making it difficult to identify factors that separate those who are lying from those who are telling the truth.<ref name="apa1">{{cite web |title=The Truth About Lie Detectors (aka Polygraph Tests) |url=https://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph |website=apa.org |publisher=American Psychological Association}}</ref>

In some countries, polygraphs are used as an [[interrogation]] tool with criminal suspects or candidates for sensitive public or private sector employment. Some [[United States law enforcement]] and federal government agencies,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/8/14/5999119/polygraphs-lie-detectors-do-they-work|title=Lie detectors: Why they don't work, and why police use them anyway|publisher=[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]]|author=Stromberg, Joseph|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=December 15, 2014|access-date=September 13, 2022|archivedate=August 16, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816182851/https://www.vox.com/2014/8/14/5999119/polygraphs-lie-detectors-do-they-work}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/09/25/nsa-whistleblower-reveals-how-to-beat-a-polygraph-test|title=NSA Whistleblower Reveals How To Beat a Polygraph Test|author=Flock, Elizabeth|magazine=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 25, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2022|archivedate=August 13, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813195242/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/09/25/nsa-whistleblower-reveals-how-to-beat-a-polygraph-test}}</ref> as well as many police departments, use polygraph examinations to interrogate suspects and screen new employees. Within the [[US federal government]], a polygraph examination is also referred to as a psychophysiological detection of deception examination.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://antipolygraph.org/documents/federal-polygraph-handbook-02-10-2006.pdf|title=Federal Psychophysiological Detection of Deception Examiner Handbook|work=Antipolygraph.org|access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref>

Assessments of polygraphy by scientific and government bodies generally suggest that polygraphs are highly inaccurate, may easily be defeated by countermeasures, and are an imperfect or invalid means of assessing truthfulness.<ref name=faspol/><ref name=APA2004/><ref name=NatResearchCouncil/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/health/lie-detector-facts-accuracy/index.html|title=The shaky science of lie detectors|publisher=[[CNN]]|author=LaMotte, Sandee|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 7, 2018|access-date=November 5, 2023|archive-date=November 5, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231105062126/https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/health/lie-detector-facts-accuracy/index.html}}</ref> A comprehensive 2003 review by the [[National Academy of Sciences]] of existing research concluded that there was "little basis for the expectation that a polygraph test could have extremely high accuracy."<ref name=NatResearchCouncil/> The [[American Psychological Association]] states that "most psychologists agree that there is little evidence that polygraph tests can accurately detect lies."<ref name="apa1"/> For this reason, the use of polygraphs to detect lies is considered a form of [[pseudoscience]], or [[junk science]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Tavel, Morton E.|url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/03/the-lie-detector-test-revisited-a-great-example-of-junk-science/|title=The 'Lie Detector' Test Revisited: A Great Example of Junk Science|magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|volume=40|number=1|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=January 2016|access-date=May 12, 2025|archive-date=May 12, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250513022838/https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/03/the-lie-detector-test-revisited-a-great-example-of-junk-science/}}</ref>