The History of the Polygraph Lie Detector Test
Uploaded by spootyhead on Mar 05, 2007
The History of the Polygraph Lie Detector Test
There is a forty billion dollar-per-year dishonest cost in the business community, and 20% of businesses are estimated to go out of business due to theft. Theft is a problem which is seen more and more than ever before. With the inventions of space-aged, modern technology, businesses are turning to it to fight the battle of theft. Lie Detector tests are the new defense against theft. A lie detector tests includes a polygraph, deceptograph, voice stress analyzer, psychological stress evaluator, or similar devices. Theses devices are used to render a diagnostic opinion pertaining to the honesty or dishonesty of an individual. The main reason many government, law enforcement, and private sector employers use lie detector tests are because they think the test will frighten away liars and cheats who are seeking jobs, or it will frighten confessions out of those accused of wrongdoing. Richard Nixon stated, “ lie detector tests are a tool of intimidation.” In this paper I will defend my thesis that lie detector tests, mainly polygraph tests, used in the screening of existing employees or new hires is immoral. The tests are discriminative, an invasion of privacy, and coercive.
One reason for accepting my thesis is that the polygraph test discriminates against false positive people because of the unreliability of the test and the person administering it. Polygraph tests continuously, visually, permanently, and simultaneously records changes in cardiovascular, respiratory, and electrodermal patterns as minimum instrumentation standards, which is used to render diagnostic opinion as to the honesty or dishonesty of an individual. The problem of nervousness, anger, sadness, embarrassment, and fear can all be causal factors in altering one's heart rate, blood pressure or respiration rate. Having to go to the bathroom can also be causative. Also, there are a number of medical conditions such as colds, headaches, constipation, or neurological and muscular problems, which can cause the physiological changes, measured by the polygraph. Any of those conditions can be present at the time of the administration of the test, and can throw off the results, giving a false conclusion.
Not only can the test be unreliable, but also the person administering it can be. David Lykken, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota and a major critic of the validity of polygraph testing, counters that the average training program for a professional polygraph examiner last...