The Lie Detectors


Book Description

In this fascinating history of the lie detector, Ken Alder exposes some persistent truths about our culture: why we long to know the secret thoughts of our fellow citizens; why we believe in popular science; and why we embrace ?truthiness.? For centuries people searched in vain for a way to unmask liars, seeking clues in the body?s outward signs: in blushing cheeks and shifty eyes. Not until the 1920s did a cop with a PhD team up with an entrepreneurial high school student and claim to have invented a foolproof machine capable of peering directly into the human heart. Scientists repudiated the technique, and judges banned its results from criminal trials, but in a few years their polygraph had transformed police work, seized headlines, and enthralled the nation.ø In this book, Alder explains why America?and only America?has embraced this mechanical method of reading the human soul. Over the course of the twentieth century, the lie detector became integral to our justice system, employment markets, and national security apparatus, transforming each into a game of bluff and bluster. The lie detector device may not reliably read the human mind, but this lively account shows that the instrument?s history offers a unique window into the American soul.




The Truth Machine


Book Description

For centuries, all manner of truth-seekers have used the lie detector. In this eye-opening book, Geoffrey C Bunn unpacks the history of this device and explores the interesting and often surprising connection between technology and popular culture.




The Polygraph and Lie Detection


Book Description

The polygraph, often portrayed as a magic mind-reading machine, is still controversial among experts, who continue heated debates about its validity as a lie-detecting device. As the nation takes a fresh look at ways to enhance its security, can the polygraph be considered a useful tool? The Polygraph and Lie Detection puts the polygraph itself to the test, reviewing and analyzing data about its use in criminal investigation, employment screening, and counter-intelligence. The book looks at: The theory of how the polygraph works and evidence about how deceptivenessâ€"and other psychological conditionsâ€"affect the physiological responses that the polygraph measures. Empirical evidence on the performance of the polygraph and the success of subjects' countermeasures. The actual use of the polygraph in the arena of national security, including its role in deterring threats to security. The book addresses the difficulties of measuring polygraph accuracy, the usefulness of the technique for aiding interrogation and for deterrence, and includes potential alternativesâ€"such as voice-stress analysis and brain measurement techniques.




Lie Detection and the Law


Book Description

This book develops a sociological account of lie detection practices and uses this to think about lying more generally. Bringing together insights from sociology, social history, socio-legal studies and science and technology studies (STS), it explores how torture and technology have been used to try to discern the truth. It examines a variety of socio-legal practices, including trial by ordeal in Europe, the American criminal jury trial, police interrogations using the polygraph machine, and the post-conviction management of sex offenders in the USA and the UK. Moving across these different contexts, it articulates how uncertainties in the use of lie detection technologies are managed, and the complex roles they play in legal spaces. Alongside this story, the book surveys some of the different ways in which lying is understood in philosophy, law and social order. Lie Detection and the Law will be of interest to STS researchers, socio-legal scholars, criminologists and sociologists, as well as others working at the intersections of law and science.




The Lie Detector Test


Book Description




The Truth Machine


Book Description

Prepare to have your conception of truth rocked to its very foundation. It is the year 2004. Violent crime is the number one political issue in America. Now, the Swift and Sure Anti-Crime Bill guarantees a previously convicted violent criminal one fair trial, one quick appeal, then immediate execution. To prevent abuse of the law, a machine must be built that detects lies with 100 percent accuracy. Once perfected, the Truth Machine will change the face of the world. Yet the race to finish the Truth Machine forces one man to commit a shocking act of treachery, burdening him with a dark secret that collides with everything he believes in. Now he must conceal the truth from his own creation . . . or face his execution. By turns optimistic and chilling--and always profound--The Truth Machine is nothing less than a history of the future, a spellbinding chronicle that resonates with insight, wisdom . . . and astounding possibility. "PROFOUND." --Associated Press




A Tremor In The Blood


Book Description

The author presents case histories of persons whose lives have been blighted by our uniquely American faith in the myth of the lie detector. Dr. Lykken also explains how to "beat" the machine, not only because it is unfair that spies and Mafia soldiers already know these techniques, but also because innocent persons have nearly a 50:50 chance of failing lie detector tests unless they use appropriate countermeasures. Many state courts in the U.S. still admit lie detector tests into evidence under certain conditions - a practice that ensures the conviction of more innocent people every year. Finally, Dr. Lykken reports on the results of recent surveys of informed scientific opinion about lie detection and presents another method of polygraphic interrogation that is designed to detect, not lies, but the presence of guilty knowledge. This method is scientifically credible and holds promise for future use in criminal investigation.




Fundamentals of Polygraph Practice


Book Description

Though polygraph has been the mainstay for government and police departments since World War II, it has undergone substantial transformation in recent years. Fundamentals of Polygraph Practice bridges the gap between the outmoded practices and today's validated testing and analysis protocols. The goal of this reference is to thoroughly and concisely describe the evidence-based practices of polygraphy. Coverage will include: psychophysiology, testing techniques, data collection, data analysis, ethics, polygraph law, alternate technologies and much more. This text addresses the foundational needs of polygraph students, and is written to be useful and accessible to attorneys, forensic scientists, consumers of polygraph services, and the general public. - Includes protocols and fundamentals of polygraph practice - Covers the history of lie detection, psychophysiology, data collection, techniques and testing, data analysis and much more - Authors are internationally recognized in the polygraph field




Spy the Lie


Book Description

Three former CIA officers--the world's foremost authorities on recognizing deceptive behavior--share their techniques for spotting a lie with thrilling anecdotes from the authors' careers in counterintelligence.