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Do Polygraphs Work?

Do Polygraphs Work?

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pbrauer

pbrauer

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Polygraphs aka Lie Dectors

We know they are not usable in a court of law, but I want to know if you think they can prove the person is lying or telling the truth?

Yes
No
Charlie Chan
 
Not really.


Mostly they are only useful as a form of pressured interrogation, where the stress of being hooked up to the supposed "lie detector" (hah! don't make me laugh) tends to make people screw up their story or lose their nerve and confess.

That springy band across your chest? It isn't even hooked up to anything.
 
I dunno...let me try...

'I hate the Dallas Cowboys' *machine reacts strongly*

'I hate normally-aspirated V8 powered, RWD cars' *machine reacts strongly*

'I hate video games'

Whoa...the machine is going nuts...looks like they work.
 
They work great....





As EKGs.
 
From what I've heard they work well on the majority of people.

Two huge problems though.

1) The degree they work and under what conditions vary considerably and can't be predicted.

2) The techniques to beat a polygraph are not very complicated.
 
They can prove you have a stress reaction when answering a question, whether that means you're lying, emotional, or doing it intentionally is up for someone else to interpret.
 
They work fine unless the respondent knows what s/he's doing.
 
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