The Polygraphs Scientific Validity

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One of the difficulties faced by scientific evidence is admissibility in the court of law, validity of testing is part of the process for meeting requisite standards; the validity of the polygraph test has proven to be a hurdle difficult to overcome. “There are two major reasons why an overall measure of validity is not possible. First, the polygraph test is, in reality, a very complex process that is much more than the instrument. Although the instrument is essentially the same for all applications, the types of individuals tested, training of the examiner, purpose of the test, and types of questions asked, among other factors, can differ substantially. A polygraph test requires that the examiner infer deception or truthfulness based on a comparison of the person’s physiological responses to various questions. For example, there are differences between the testing procedures used in criminal investigations and those used in personnel security screening. Second, the research on polygraph validity varies widely in terms of not only results, but also in the quality of research design and methodology. Thus, conclusions about scientific validity can be made only in the context of specific applications and even then must be tempered by the limitations of available research evidence (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1983).” “Psychologist Leonard Saxe, PhD, has argued, the idea that we can detect a person's veracity by monitoring psychophysiological changes is more myth than reality. Even the term "lie detector," used to refer to polygraph testing, is a misnomer. So-called "lie detection" involves inferring deception through analysis of physiological responses to a structured, but unstandardized, series of questions (The Truth About Lie Detectors (aka Polygraph Tests)).” The American Polygraph Association believes that a polygraph can be valid if certain
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