Discuss to What Extent the Polygraph is a Responsible and Reliable Tool to Determine Deceit in Police Interrogation.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Discuss to What Extent the Polygraph is a Responsible and

Reliable Tool to Determine Deceit in Police Interrogation.

The issue of the reliability of polygraphs has been, and still is widely debated. It is not only of legal interest, but of scientific and social concern as well. The use of polygraph testing has both individual and social consequences and thus holds enough importance in psychology to demand further research and discussion into its validity.

The polygraph was first tested by Harvard psychology and law graduate William Marston in the early 1920s. It has been around for nearly 80 years and there are many organisations, websites, books and other media who have something to say about polygraphs. Various psychologists and academics have carried out studies into the science behind the so-called 'lie-detector' (Ben-Shakhar & Dolev, 1996; Iacono & Lykken, 1997), and it seems that the biggest consumer of polygraphs is the US. Compared to the UK and the rest of Europe, the use of polygraphs in America is immense. It is common practice for government agencies such as the CIA, the National Security Agency and the FBI to use them to screen job applicants. In fact