(via What’s new by Bob Park – Friday, January 15, 2010)
2. CIA: HOW MANY SPIES HAS THE POLYGRAPH EXPOSED?
According to a CBS News account of the suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan, “The double agent was brought onto the base without first being given a polygraph test, one of the basic tools in establishing a spy’s trustworthiness.” Really? Aldrich Ames, the master Soviet spy who was a high-ranking CIA analyst, routinely passed polygraph exams, even as he passed information to the Soviets. Nor did the polygraph expose Larry Wu- Tai Chin a Chinese language translator working for the CIA who sold information to China, or Robert Hanssen of the FBI. In fact, not a single spy has been caught by a polygraph screening exam. In 2003 the National Academy of Science issued a report, “The Polygraph and Lie Detection,” that found the majority of polygraph research to be unreliable, unscientific and biased. The high rate of false positives was considered unacceptable. I have argued, however, that the small number of true positives is the real problem. I propose replacing the polygraph with a coin toss. That would identify 50 percent of the double agents compared to zero with the polygraph. The unfortunate increase in false positives constitutes collateral damage, which is inevitable in war.3. BABY GABRIEL: THE REALITY OF LIE DETECTION IN POPULAR CULTURE.
A prospective adoptive-couple have been named as “persons of interest” in the disappearance of an eight-month old baby in Arizona (Gabriel). The couple appeared on television early this week demanding a polygraph test to “determine absolutely whether we are telling the truth.” The next day the polygraph examiners announced the result: “inconclusive.” The public perception is that the polygraph is a scientific device that distinctively signals a lie. This is abetted by the media which rarely mentions the strong scientific objections to the polygraph. Devices claimed to be lie detectors are even used in television game shows (Fox of course). In fact, the polygraph looks for spikes in blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and perspiration. In other words, you can’t tell a lie from the sex act.
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