Detection of Deception: Polygraph and Integrity Tests

Abstract

The recent Ames spy case, in which a high-level CIA official is accused of spying for the Soviet Union, and then Russia, for more than 10 years, highlights the societal importance of detecting deception. Aldrich Ames, it is reported, passed at least two polygraph tests, administered to detect treasonous behaviors, during the time he was allegedly selling U.S. secrets. The importance of research to improve our ability to detect deception in national security cases can hardly be exaggerated. Honesty testing in business and industry is a more common, and equally important, application of research on detection of deception. Employees who steal goods, embezzle funds, and manipulate records cost the economy billions of dollars a year. Employers want effective means to detect fraud in employees and potential employees. But such means must not discriminate unjustly against honest citizens nor infringe on employees' or prospective employees' civil rights. How efficacious and fair are the polygraph and other means of honesty testing? In this section, four leading psychological scientists evaluate research evidence on the detection of deception by polygraph, paper-and-pencil tests, and nonverbal cues. These authors do not agree in all their assessments of the research evidence and on appropriate applications in government and business. The Controversies section of Current Directions is, therefore, an appropriate forum for the discussion of these important scientific and practical issues.