I am a professional polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California. My blog, Polygraph Reality, is a source of information about polygraph testing, sometimes called lie detector testing. My goal is to provide you with information about the objective realities of the field. There is a great deal of nonsense and misinformation about polygraph testing on the internet and in the media. One of my goals will be to supply accurate information to help you deal with the silliness you may have been reading and hearing.
Future posts will present information about scientific research into polygraph accuracy (there’s quite a bit of that), how the vast majority of scientists look at the technique (they support it), cases in which polygraph tests have been admitted into criminal and civil trials, and how polygraph is being used to make life better for people around the world.
Louis Rovner, Ph.D.
Tags: lie detector, polygraph, polygraph test, polygraph testing
September 15, 2009 at 6:10 PM |
I am looking forward to reading some honest and hopefully valuable information about lie detecting.
September 16, 2009 at 9:06 PM |
I’d be interested in understanding why employers are prohibited from using polygraph tests.
September 16, 2009 at 9:44 PM |
Good question Ted.
Until 1988, employers around the country used polygraph tests to determine whether job applicants could be trusted with their company’s assets. Pre-employment polygraph tests were used to identify people who had stolen from previous employers or used illegal drugs on the job. Employers found that these tests screened out people who would be detrimental to the goals of their companies, or who might pose a real danger to their fellow employees (think of a heavy equipment operator who just smoked a joint). The fact that millions of these tests were performed was evidence to the fact that employers saw great value in them.
However, there were some polygraph examiners and polygraph companies that abused the technique and abused the very people they were testing. Tests that should have taken 2 hours were done in 15 minutes, and people were unfairly disqualified for jobs that they should have had. As a result of these abuses, the United States congress passed the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA), which banned pre-employment polygraph testing, except for federal, state and local government agencies and a few private industries. Rather than licensing and regulating the polygraph industry, they took the easier, politically expedient route. Interestingly, the major co-sponsors of EPPA were Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy, perhaps the most conservative and liberal members of the Senate.
January 23, 2012 at 2:14 PM |
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