Lie detectors don't work.....What will?

My thinking was similar to yours, in that I also believed lie detectors were more reliable than they really are. After reading the psychology text book, I was also shocked to learn that they are, in fact, extremely unreliable. Your sources also provide an interesting insight on this topic.

I don't think that lie detectors are necessarily unreliable as much as they are invalid for many circumstances. Some people are trained to beat a polygraph test, but they work for the majority of people. They will still give insight to further an investigation, but should not be the sole display of evidence in a conviction.

I must say, I was surprised to read about the lie detectors also. After watching so many crime/mystery shows and movies it came as a surprise to know that the polygraphs didn't accurately determine when someone is lying. I think it is a good place to start, but like smol0077, I don't believe it should be the only evidence displayed

This is an interesting topic. Lie detectors have been shown to be beatable before and you raise an interesting point about how a new standard of lie detectors and/or an alternative procedure for detecting lies may be necessary.

I also thought that I had a firm grasp on the reality of lie detectors through watching television shows and movies. I always assume that what the shows portray isn't completely correct but rather that it is fairly accurate. However, after reading about the lie detector test, I wonder what else I have seen on TV that hasn't been true. I wrote about the same topic for this blog, and I wasn't really sure what would be the most appropriate way to test for lies since the polygraph doesn't really work.

From watching shows like CSI, Law and Order, and NCIS I thought I knew everything about lie detectors and how they worked. In these shows lie detectors worked to perfection, so I was under the impression they worked like this in real life. In reality, lie detectors do not work like this at all, and are actually not dependable at all. Alternative methods need to be applied when dealing with criminals so none of them can "beat" the law.

I also thought that lie detector tests were completely reliable thanks to the media in today's world. I remember thinking in different situations that people should just administer lie detector tests to solve murder mysteries and other cases. I think it's very interesting that people have developed a number of different ways to falsely pass lie detector tests. However, I don't think that TV shows or movies should take out the lie detector aspect as it is now a symbol in those types of shows/movies.

I like the link you put at the bottom, but I wonder if there would be similar problems with the eye detector. The article didn't speak of any issues that could arise with this new 'lie detector', but I wonder since it reads pupil dilation, eye movement, etc., what if the person questioning you is extremely attractive (so your pupils are more dilated), the situation in general makes you nervous (so you take longer to respond), or you naturally look around when thinking or remembering (as I do)? It seems like with any system that 'detects lies' based off of the somatic system is bound to have flaws and be unreliable as it's obvious that the correlation of involuntary responses to lying is by no means causation.

To be honest, if I stand before lie detector, and tell the truth, I feel like the lie detector will catch my nervousness, which itself turn into a lie. Even though the machine is scientifically proven, there are also some flaw aspects of it. I concern when people are honest, but get caught as lying people, especially when they are investigated for being suspicious in some criminal cases.

The validity of lie detector tests have greatly increased over the years due to lack of public knowledge and continued media acceptance. People in today's world continue to support lie detector tests because it gives concrete answers as to whether or not someone is actually lying, but the problem with the test is that it works against innocence, which goes against the rights of any person taking the test. Lie detector tests should cease being considered a valid source of testing a person's honesty.

It always kind of surprised me how much people just relied on lie detector tests without really knowing anything about them, but now I see that they aren't as valid as many are lead to believe. I wonder if they will ever invent something that can soundly (since I'm sure it's impossible to make such a test 100% fool proof) gage how much a person is lying or not, it'd certainly be useful!

Wow that new eye tracker looks cool. It reminds me of the lie detector from the movie Blade Runner. In that the eye movement, pupil enlargement blinking, or twitches indicate a lie. To see this into the real world would be phenomenal especially if the eye detector is supremely accurate.

What reasoning does the article give for the "lying lie detectors"? Why do you think it is incorrect? Explain what the new method of lie detection in your second link is briefly.

Interesting topic! The new eye tracker is really interesting also. I also believed lie detectors are reliable. But from the psychology textbooks and blogs postings, I guess the lie detectors are unreliable. I see that the eye tracker article was from two years ago. I wonder what has improved.