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Validity of the Lie Detector

A Psychophysiological Perspective

University of Toronto

RONALD J. HESLEGRAVE

Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, Toronto

The profession of polygraphy uses physiological measures to improve the detection of deception. The science most relevant for assessing the utility of these measures is that of psychophysiology. This article examines the validity of polygraphy from the perspective of the science of psychophysiology, which employs physiological measures to study and differentiate psychological processes. The focus is on the version practiced currently by most members of the American Polygraph Association, the "control question technique" (CQT). A brief consideration of some critical terms is followed by a description of CQT polygraphy, and then by a review of the literature. We conclude that as a scientific tool, CQT polygraphy is of questionable validity, although it is probably a better-than-chance detector of guilt.

Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 15, No. 2, 219-246 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/0093854888015002008


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