Do you believe that polygraph tests are reliable?

In my mind, since they are not allowed in court, they must not be 100% reliable. There are so many variables that could trigger false positives or even false negatives that I would need other evidence to believe a person committed a crime.

No one does, or should, no claim has ever been made that they’re anything other than stress indicators & that’s as it should be, for the time being at least.

No, I don’t and the American Polygraph Association agrees. They say the tests are 89% accurate, which sounds pretty good, but they may be lying.

They have been proven not to be so no.

No, they’re not reliable in any substantive, measurable, meaningful way.

”89%”, pshaw!

Would you get in a car if you had an 89% chance of getting to your destination without an accident? Not if you valued your life, you wouldn’t!

And when do lie detectors come into play usually? Criminal investigations and paternity tests, right? That is, things that affect you the rest of your life!

As far as I’m concerned, they’re worse than useless because the only credibility they have is with people too ignorant to know better.

Nope, I’m one of those people (well, sometimes I am) who can lie their ass off and the polygraph won’t pick up jack.

No.
Of course not.
If they were, everyone on earth suspected of a crime would be hooked up to the machine and asked “Did you do it?” And they would be sentenced accordingly.

No. Nervous people, or people who are easily excited, scared or startled are always going to have readings that seem odd or unusual.

On the other hand, some sociopaths are super-calm and can easily maniupulate these kinds of tests (and people, hence they are sociopaths). Their breathing and heart rates and sweat rates (if that’s what you call them) are not normal and the poor blokes that are shy or have social anxiety and might be susceptible to phobias are going to sweat and have a hight heart rate even if you just ask them what time it is.

So, no.