The Validity of Polygraph Testing Scientific Analysis and Public Controversy Leonard Saxe, Denise Dougherty, and Theodore Cross Boston University ABSTRACT: Polygraph tests to detect deceptiveness have been conducted for many years, although their validity has not yet been established. The present review was conducted to aid Congressional consid- eration of efforts by the Department of Defense and President Reagan to expand use of polygraph tests to large numbers of government employees with access to Classified information. Results of this review suggest serious problems with both the theoretical rationale underlying use of polygraph tests and the quality of available evidence that supports the validity of such tests. Although previous evidence suggests that polygraph tests are highly accurate, the validity of these data are not clear, particularly for the uses proposed by the government. As an exemplar of how psychological research evidence influences public pol- icy, this study illustrates both the difficulties and potential of social science theory and research in shaping the direction of political decisions. Ever since use of physiological recordings to detect the deceptiveness of criminal suspects was proposed by Marston (1917), controversy over polygraphic "lie detector" tests has raged. Polygraph tests have been debated in the U.S. Congress, courtrooms, and in a plethora of scientific and nonscientific forums. Within scientific psychology, as outside, loyalists have arisen who either vigorously support or oppose use of polygraph tests. Although much of the public debate about polygraph tests focuses on ethical problems, at the heart of the controversy is validity-- the relatively simple question of whether physiological measures can actually assess truthfulness and decep- tion. As had happened several other times, in 1983 the U.S. Congress conducted hearings concerning polygraph testing (cf. U.S. Congress, 1983) and considered legislation to limit its application. Congressional review was stimulated by Administra- tion proposals to expand significantly use of poly- graph tests to prevent unauthorized disclosures of classified information and other official misconduct (see Brooks, 1985). An analysis of polygraph testing was conducted as part of these Congressional delib- erations and is described in this article. The analysis was developed for the congressional Office of Tech- nology Assessment (OTA), and its goal was to provide an evenhanded assessment of current scientific knowledge about polygraph tests. The study conducted for OTA was not a com- prehensive "technology assessment," as characterizes OTA's work (cf. Saxe & Dougherty, in press). Rather, it was a narrowly focused study of the scientific issues concerning polygraph testing, and it served to review and synthesize available research evidence. To conduct the study, a comprehensive review of literature on polygraph testing was conducted. The review was supplemented by site visits and discus- sions with government officials and polygraph ex- aminers. A scientific advisory panel was formed to aid the investigators, and information from a wide range of sources was sought. A literature review, meta-analysis,, and theoretical analysis were incor- porated, along with a survey and interviews. The resulting analysis attempted to blend a careful eval- uation of data with an assessment and development of theory about the detection of deception. The study found that, although there is no such device as a lie detector per se, a number of approaches to inferring truth or deceptiveness have been devel- oped based on physiological measurement. The type of approach used depends on the situation. Unfor- tunately, none of these approaches is foolproof. Whether a person is correctly identified as being truthful or deceptive depends largely on the skill of the examiner and a number of characteristics and behaviors of the examinee. Neither available data nor theoretical analysis indicates that polygraph tests function as claimed by their proponents. Substantial numbers of both truthful and deceptive individuals may be misidentified through use of polygraph tests, and the tests can be "beaten." For most common uses of polygraph testing there is not even rudimen- tary evidence to support such use, and reliance on polygraph testing to protect national security would appear to be very problematic. In this article, we describe how this conclusion was developed and explore the current controversy over polygraph testing. March 1985 * American Psychologist Copyright 1985 by the Amca'ican Psychological Association, Inc. 0003-066X/85/$00.75 Vol. 40, No. 3, 355-366 355