In movies it is shown that through polygraph test it can be found whether a person is lying or not. But we all know that it is not correct. What I am asking can the polygraph test be modified, more data collected so that it becomes more accurate ? Also is there any alternative to polygraph machine to find whether a person is lying ?
Not really, because it’s not measuring if you’re lying or not, it’s measuring a stress reaction.
So if lying is like breathing to you (cough, Trump, cough) you can pass the test with flying colors.
OTOH if just the idea of a test stresses you out, it will say you’re lying about the color of the sky.
In theory, that’s what the control questions are for. You start with questions where the examiner knows the subject isn’t lying, to establish a baseline, and lies are only determined by identifying deviations from that.
Still a debunked technology, at the end of the day. There"s too many assumptions still baked into tbe premise, and too many inaccuracies in the tech.
It’s also been shown that the person asking the questions can easily manipulate the answers. If they ask nicely, calmly and reassuringly, the test will pass, if they ask in a “bad cop” way, the test will fail.
And since the control questions are usually not asked very inquisitivly, they don’t help for that kind of stuff.