Why Do People Use Polygraph Testing?

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The law enforcement system has been making use of the polygraph test for quite some time now in the interrogation of people who are suspected to be criminals. The instrument that is most often used to conduct the tests consists of a recorder that assesses heart rate, respiration, and skin conductivity. The rate and depth of respiration are measured by instruments wrapped around the subject’s chest. A blood pressure cuff is applied to assess blood pressure. Finally, electrodes are attached to the fingertips to measure skin conductivity. The recording and questioning techniques are usually only applied during a portion of the test, and much of the other time is spent explaining the test and asking questions to measure stimulation. There are many questioning techniques used in polygraph tests. The most common for criminal cases is the Control Question Test (CQT). The CQT compares the responses to relevant questions to that of the control questions. The control questions are made to control the effect of the relevant questions (apa.org). …show more content…

The main reason being that there is no evidence that a pattern of physiological reactions is unique to deception. Basically, an honest person may become anxious and uneasy when answering truthfully, and a person who is lying may appear cool-natured and honest. There are also few good studies that validate the ability of polygraph procedures to detect when a person is being deceptive (a-team.org). Many doctors have even said it may be impossible to conduct a study that truthfully measures validity. In situations in the real world, knowing exactly what the truth is can be very

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