"Polygraphy;' "lie detection;' and the "detection of deception" are all terms that refer to an application of the science of psychophysiology, which itself employs physiological measures to study and differentiate between psychological processes. The issues raised by polygraphy are controversial. One such issue is whether the polygraph is a genuinely scientifically based application, or merely a purported application, of psychophysiology. Such concerns are of interest not only to polygraph practitioners and to specialists in psychophysiology, but also to such other specialists as those in the...

We are exposed on a daily basis to bogus promises of comfort, security, healing, truth, and even predictions of the future. The Lying Machine shines an unforgiving light on two extremely popular and lucrative examples of this phenomenon: "cold reading" techniques, and the pseudosciences of graphology and polygraph interrogation. Is there any scientific basis at all for the claims of their practitioners?

The authors review the history and the relevant research and, aided by a wealth of anecdote and illustration, expose the pretensions and fallacies of these practices in clear...

We are exposed on a daily basis to bogus promises of comfort, security, healing, truth, and even predictions of the future. The Lying Machine shines an unforgiving light on two extremely popular and lucrative examples of this phenomenon: "cold reading" techniques, and the pseudosciences of graphology and polygraph interrogation. Is there any scientific basis at all for the claims of their practitioners?

The authors review the history and the relevant research and, aided by a wealth of anecdote and illustration, expose the pretensions and fallacies of these practices in clear...