Last year, I had a job interview where I was required to go through a lie detection test. I laughed at the concept knowing that a) memories change over time; b) memories can be induced; c)a simple search through Google Scholar demonstrates that the scientific community does not take the practice seriously.
Apparently suspicious spouses will be looking to book their for a lie detection test. The only way to catch someone in a lie is evidence. If a person admits to something, it doesn't mean that it is true. If a story changes over time, it is also unlikely that what is being told that a person's world can be held as truth. Participants should not say anything that does not need to be used against them.
In a nutshell, the ones administering, or paying for the tests, are the ones being duped.
More about polygraph testing will follow in an upcoming post about lie detection. In the meantime, take a look a the following posts :
Anti-Polygraph
Pseudoscience: List of topics :
The Art of Deception: Polygraph Lie Detection by Michael Lawrence Langan, M.D.
What polygraph interviewers are like...
Oh! Fun! A video on Bloomberg
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