Q 01/05

Which of these bodily signals does a standard polygraph record while a person answers questions?

A) Body temperature

B) Pupil size

C) Brain waves

D) Skin conductivity

Answer · why

D) Skin conductivity

Skin conductivity. Electrodes on the fingertips pick up tiny bursts of sweat, which let the skin carry more current, while an arm cuff and a chest tub...

Q 02/05

The polygraph made which reference work's 2003 list of 325 great inventions that changed life "for better or worse"?

A) Encyclopaedia Britannica

B) The World Almanac

C) The Guinness Book of Records

D) The Oxford English Dictionary

Answer · why

A) Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Its editors stressed that great did not mean good: the list ran from the printing press to potato chips, and found room for ...

Q 03/05

What does the scientific community largely consider polygraphy to be?

A) A branch of medicine

B) A young but sound science

C) Pseudoscience

D) Settled science

Answer · why

C) Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience. The machine records arousal such as a racing heart, and no bodily reaction is unique to lying, which is why psychologists say it might ...

Q 04/05

Which body's 2003 review found "little basis for the expectation that a polygraph test could have extremely high accuracy"?

A) National Academy of Sciences

B) American Medical Association

C) National Institutes of Health

D) Federal Bureau of Investigation

Answer · why

A) National Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Sciences. Its panel warned that overconfidence in polygraph screening was itself a danger to national security, since a test stric...

Q 05/05

In a polygraph session, what is the "stim test", staged to convince the subject that the machine works?

A) A sudden loud noise

B) A lie told on purpose

C) A mild electric shock

D) A surprise question

Answer · why

B) A lie told on purpose

A lie told on purpose. The subject picks a card or a number and denies it, then the examiner announces that the chart caught the lie, in some versions...