Polygraphs, MRIs and EyeDetect- Three Lie Detection Methods
By Adam Decker, Marketing –
MRIs present a solution, albeit an expensive one, for lie detection.
Consider the following statements: No, I did not have sexual relations with that woman. No, Your Honor, I had nothing to do with that bombing in Chicago. No, officer I had nothing to do with that missing child.
What would happen to law enforcement if we could prove a person was lying?
The Polygraph ― A Viable Lie Detection Solution?
Dan Ribacoff ― an expert and private investigator who has administered polygraph tests for parole departments, the police, probation departments, state courts, corporations and individuals for more than two decades ― explained that a polygraph monitors a person’s respiratory rate, blood pressure rate, cardio and sweat gland activity.
A polygraph test is considered unreliable as a lie detection technology in many scientific circles, partly because its effectiveness depends heavily on the intimidation skills of the interrogator. While it is generally 70 to 99 percent accurate, an unrepentant sociopath could probably beat the test.
How About MRIs?
A California entrepreneur, published author and doctor of molecular studies, Joel Huizenga, CEO of Truthful Brain Corporation, is now using neuroscience technology in the form of a functional MRI system to monitor individual brain activity.
Huizenga said that when people lie, they use a part of the brain that is different than when they are telling the truth. He further stated that when a person lies, they have to stop themselves from telling the truth, because as human beings we are programmed to tell the truth, all of which shows up in an MRI exam.
Outcomes
Huizenga declared that if we could scan the brain of accused individuals with a functional MRI and observe the chances in brain activity, law enforcement outcomes would be entirely different.
For lie detection, MRI technology is being viewed as a more reliable and effective tool, because it detects measurable neurological activity when a person lies, literally letting you watch the brain try to lie.
The challenge with using MRI as lie detectors is that the solution is very costly and won’t scale to the mass market.
The Truth About Lying
A Michigan State University study showed that Americans lie hundreds of millions of times every day, at an estimated 1.67 lies per person daily. Huizenga says that he envisions an improved world if we could just trust people. We could have more to go on in murder and criminal cases, as well as in the business and government industries if we could scientifically prove that individuals were lying.
However, many individuals don’t see any reason to necessarily uncover the world’s lies, probably because they don’t want to know the guilt in their own deceits.
One scalable eye lie detection technology with the potential to make a difference in the process of detecting lies and fraudsters has been launched this year.
EyeDetect® uses a computer to monitor an examinee’s eye movement patterns as they answer a series of true/false questions. Based on how their eyes move as they answer, EyeDectect® can pinpoint who is lying and who is telling the truth.
