Completed BBCSS Project

Study to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph

Publication: The Polygraph and Lie Detection

The Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences and Education and the Committee on National Statistics, under the National Research Council's Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, have convened a panel to conduct a scientific review of the research on polygraph examinations that pertain to their validity and reliability, in particular for personnel security screening. The review will include what is known about the effect of medications, sleep deprivation, and illnesses on the physiological responses measured. The panel's work will begin on January 1, 2001. The panel will issue a final report approximately fifteen (15) months from that date. The report will present the panel's assessments of and recommendations for polygraph examinations for personnel security purposes and the panel's suggestions for further research. The sponsor for this panel is the U.S. Department of Energy.