Lie Detection: Science or Pseudoscience?

Exaggerated claims about lie test have led some to consider lie detection as pseudoscientific. Meanwhile, scientists continuously develop, test, and publish scientific papers on lie detection methods. In this chapter, I discuss the difficulty differentiating science from pseudoscience in lie detection. Somewhat ironically, pseudoscience is a form of deception, and can perhaps best be defined as science in disguise. No lie test in itself is scientific or pseudoscientific, yet the current practice of several tests is pseudoscientific. I discuss the most widely used lie detection tests: behaviour detection, voice stress analysis, SCAN, and polygraphy. This chapter will help the reader to recognize bogus arguments and malpractice, to form an opinion on the scientific status of these widely applied lie tests, and appreciate how they can be utilized in a more scientific manner.