2w ago

Can the polygraph test be made more accurate ? Has anyone made a polygraph machine or any kind of machine that can detect whether a person is lying or not ?

In movies it is shown that through polygraph test it can be found whether a person is lying or not. But we all know that it is not correct. What I am asking can the polygraph test be modified, more data collected so that it becomes more accurate ? Also is there any alternative to polygraph machine to find whether a person is lying ?

10 comments

Polygraphs are fundamentally flawed because they measure physiological stress responses (heart rate, sweating, breathing) rather than deception itself, but newer fMRI studies looking at actual brain activity patterns during deception are way more promising since they can detect specific neural signatures when someone constructs a false narrative vs recalls a true memory.
Not really, because it's not measuring if you're lying or not, it's measuring a stress reaction.
So if lying is like breathing to you (cough, Trump, cough) you can pass the test with flying colors.
OTOH if just the idea of a test stresses you out, it will say you're lying about the color of the sky.
- In theory, that's what the control questions are for. You start with questions where the examiner knows the subject isn't lying, to establish a baseline, and lies are only determined by identifying deviations from that.
  Still a debunked technology, at the end of the day. There"s too many assumptions still baked into tbe premise, and too many inaccuracies in the tech.
  
  It's also been shown that the person asking the questions can easily manipulate the answers. If they ask nicely, calmly and reassuringly, the test will pass, if they ask in a "bad cop" way, the test will fail.
  And since the control questions are usually not asked very inquisitivly, they don't help for that kind of stuff.
No. You can't change astrology either to make it real.
It's theoretically plausible that you could map someone's brain thoroughly enough with fMRI to be able to detect when they're lying with some modicum of confidence, but that's going to be a pretty huge process (and your actual accuracy will always be debatable and it will be difficult to raise above a reasonable doubt).
- The sticking point would be actively trying to remember something would look like lying.
  Like, ask someone their name and they'll answer immediately just yanking straight from memory.
  Ask them where they were on Dec 2nd 2017, and them trying to remember is going to look like them trying to come up with a story.
  The issue is when we don't know an answer, it's normal to just make shit up but be confident it's the truth.
  We learned a lot about that from split brain patients, but since we're not cutting brains in half anymore, we can't really study it. Just review the old case folders from the brief window it was a thing and those patients didn't understand what was happening
  
  Same thing with dementia patients.
I think you can pass it if you ate chipotle right before the test, and the urge to go to the bathroom will normalize all the lies you tell
- Find a way to get more fiber in your diet, please.

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