Lie Detection Methods

Essay # 56934

Criminology
Law
Psychology

An analysis of the polygraph and other methods of lie detection.

1,267 words () | 14 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the various methods of lie detection. The paper examines the psychophysiological methods, such as the polygraph, and non-physiological methods, such as emotional cues, cognitive cues, and facial expressions. The legal aspects of lie detection tests are explored in the paper, including the extent of their credibility.

From the Paper:

"Lying and deception can have serious consequences in law enforcement and courtroom proceedings. Thus, forensic psychologists have devoted much effort to developing methods and techniques for detecting lies. Unfortunately, research indicates that the majority of people, including those working in law enforcement, do not reach above chance levels in detecting deception when using intuition alone. For example, Ekman & O'Sullivan (1991) showed in two studies of law enforcement officials that many fail to reach above chance levels. On the other hand, other studies show that some lie catchers, such as psychological experts or the secret service, can perform with above chance accuracy in detecting deception (Ekman, O'Sullivan & Frank, 1999). In light of the difficulty in accurately determining deception, psychological research has focused on examining which cues used to judge deception are most accurate and on the development of more objective psycho physiological measures of deception."