Research Of Whether Community Should Trust The So-called Lie Detectors

When people think of the word, “lie detector” it could be viewed in many ways. Sometimes a “lie detector” test could lead to someone going to jail, and it could be to perhaps a divorce, but are we trusting these machines a little too much? According to the Oxford Dictionary, the dictionary definition of “lie detectors” also known as polygraphs is “a machine designed to detect and record changes is physiological characteristics, such as a person's pulse and breathing rates, used especially as a lie detector”. For example, a polygraph test is a machine that is attached to the body that measures pulse, heart rate, respiration, and skin conductivity. In fact, in 1902 insufficient “lie” test was created by a man that goes by the name Jack McKenzie. But, it seemed that the first thought of the lie-detecting was showing up in 1730 on Daniel Defoe’s essay which will be a name mentioned again in the next paragraph. According to Apa.org, psychologist Leonardo Sax Ph.D. has argued, “the idea that we can detect a person's veracity by monitoring psychological changes is more myth than reality”. Most notably, it can be observed the polygraph is used by professionals almost every day for multi-purpose needs, such as catching someone cheating on their partner or catching someone for a crime. Police forces use the polygraph I caution now that they're known for their percentage as being lower than what it was thought to be. Apa.org states that “ an honest person may be nervous when answering truthfully and the dishonest person may be non- anxious.” This shows that polygraph can easily be fooled. Overall, polygraphs should not always be trusted, but people are still getting in severe trouble for things that they didn't do or not getting in trouble for things that they did do.

There's a lot of history behind the so-called “lie detector”, but what is the history of “lie detector”? Is it even supposed to be used for what it is today? It all started when Daniel Defoe, a novelist, created an essay named “Ineffectual Scheme for the Immediate Preventing Street Robberies and Suppressing all other Disorders of the Night.” This was still an idea but at the end of the 1880s, Caesar Lombroso created a device that measured differences in blood pressure. Throughout the 1900s to the 1910s polygraphs were advancing rapidly, such as James McKenzie's making a machine that measures many things in the body, William Marston started on a project that used blood pressure and galvanic skin response to test German prisoners of War. However, what really became the polygraph that is known to this day was actually created by John Larson and was also the first person to end up using the polygraph tester in the police force. according to Mary Bellis, “The theory is that when a person lies, the lying causes a certain amount of stress that produces changes and several involuntary physiological reactions.” In 1924 the polygraph was being used in police interrogations and even then it wasn't a hundred percent completely trusted. In the 1930s the polygraph test was starting to be more frequently used, and more trusted and even used in commercials to us people in which one of the competing companies was better. according to William Marston son, “It was my mother Elizabeth, Marston’s wife, who suggested to him that when she got excited, her blood pressure seemed to climb”. Finally, 2008 to this day, the polygraph has been used for Wars, interrogation, for fun, trust problems, and so much more. But, people need to realize the probability of the lie detector is very low. All in all, lie detectors need to be used at caution, but there is also a lot of history to what polygraphs have become now.

While millions of people believe that polygraphs are 100% successful, but in this paragraph, we will unravel the truth about the polygraph true percentage. Currently, there are millions of people who use the polygraph. It is said to be a very useful tool that is used by the police force, marriages, and professional groups. In fact, the American Polygraph Association claims a 90% success rate but leading critics such as David Lykken placed the polygraph at about a 65% success rate. The polygraph cannot successfully reach everyone in the world about the real percentage success, that is crucial information that everyone should know. Not surprisingly, polygraphs are used to this day, but it should, if not now, be used at caution. According to Psychology Today, “In other words there is a 50:50 chance that a polygraph test will say an honest person is lying”. There are many problems with the fact that people think that play graphs work almost 100% of the time but it is not even close to that number. What if people choose to use the polygraph tester and not realize that it is not the percentage that everyone thinks it is. Curiously, there are many advancements being made on the polygraph, and that there is also the fact that there are more lie detectors improvements now, but are they just trying to trick people or are they just trying to actually only trying to work on making them better. Future for all states that, “Today, using current technology a government can know with 90% accuracy if the person they are holding in custody is a spy”. Certainly, the certain advancements of the polygraph are true, but what are we doing now to fix the situation of the current use of the polygraph slow percentage.

Over the last 30 to 40 years polygraphs have advanced a lot, but have they really? When researching the importance of lie detectors. it is clear that not all tests could be telling the truth. Currently, there are tons of innocent people who are in jail, but they are supposed to be behind bars? everyone in the Justice Society finds this important. Due to the fact that this is the reason for a lot of people's imprisonment and the percentage of success on the lie detector is not what most people think it is. As a matter of fact, if we continue to use lie detectors then the chances of an innocent person going behind bars increases. The personal story of Juan Rivera, a wrongfully convicted criminal, was arrested because of a polygraph test. He spent 19 years behind bars for no reason at all. While taking the test he denied everything and it led to him taking a DNA test and he was then convinced that he was true to exonerate. Ultimately, the false accusations from a machine are sorrowful. Innocent people are accused of wrongdoing, just because of the reality of the probability of a polygraph test working or not working. Undoubtedly, the importance of the reality in which the probability of a polygraph test is really working is important to consider because there are criminals who are passing the test and innocent people who are failing the test.