(p. 214).
In short, even if one is willing to overlook all of the glaring flaws with polygraphs and the ultimate impossibility of accurately measuring their accuracy, the best that can be said about them is that they detect deception better than random chance. Though it likely need not be said, "better than flipping a coin" seems a paltry justification for the still-widespread use of polygraphs in the criminal justice system.
This study has attempted to demonstrate that polygraphs are not only ineffective, but that their widespread use actually contributes to shoddy police work and encourages a culture of arrogance and unaccountability by widening the gap between scientific evidence and those who claim to practice scientifically investigation methods. Two large-scale studies of the available literature regarding the accuracy and efficacy of polygraph testing, conducted twenty years apart, found that the many variables present during the administration of a polygraph test preclude said tests from being considered with any kind of widely applicable barometer of accuracy, and furthermore, when accuracy can be determined in any kind of quantitative fashion, the most precise that determination can be is "better than chance but far from accurate." Even the one context...
Thus, the continued advocacy and use of polygraphs as a viable tool for determining dishonesty is wholly misguided, and in fact represents a widespread case of cognitive dissonance on the part of law enforcement.
Works Cited
Gannon, T. A, Beech, A. R, & Ward, T. (2008). Does the polygraph lead to better risk prediction for sexual offenders?. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13(1), 29-44.
Grubin, D. (2010). The polygraph and forensic psychiatry. Journal of American Acad Psychiatry
Law, 38(4), 446-451.
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES, Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences and Committee on National Statistics. (2003). The polygraph and lie detection. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Snook, B. (2008). Pseudoscientific policing practices and beliefs. CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND
BEHAVIOR,35(10), 1211-121.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1983). Scientific validity…
