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| 3 | %% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end. |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/MeetTheParents https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meettheparents_lie_detector.jpg]]]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350:And you think ''your'' in-laws are embarrassing...]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ->''"Now, studies do show that polygraph tests are slightly better than, say, marshmallows at determining a person's truthfulness, but they are far from completely accurate."'' |
| 11 | -->-- '''''Website/{{Cracked}}''''', [[https://www.cracked.com/article_85_6-bullshit-facts-about-psychology-that-everyone-believes.html "6 Myths About Psychology That Everyone (Wrongly) Believes"]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The typical Hollywood Lie Detector is not like a polygraph. It is instead equipped with red/green lights or a loud buzzing/dinging to indicate truthfulness, which it decides accurately and instantly. The victim is usually betrayed by the machine to comic effect. The only way to beat it is through ExactWords, despite the fact intent to deceive should have the same physiological effect regardless of whether what you're saying is ''technically'' true or not. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | While PerpSweating an especially naive criminal, the cops may employ a ''fake'' lie detector, often a photocopier with an ominous paint job. The device really ''is'' a photocopier, secretly loaded with pages that have been preprinted with the words "TRUE" and "FALSE". The cops use the machine's answers (sometimes along with a warning that this is a new and experimental model of lie detector that could cause cancer or erectile dysfunction) to coerce the perp into a confession. (Note: some people claim this has happened in real life, but ''Website/{{Snopes}}'' has [[http://www.snopes.com/legal/colander.asp its doubts.]]) |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A real-life polygraph test typically works by asking you a mixture of embarrassing "control" questions in which everybody is expected to lie (for example "Have you ever lied to a loved one"), and relevant questions ("Did you do it"). If your physiological response on the relevant questions is the same or higher as on the control questions, you are deemed to be lying. Ironically, this means that being perfectly honest makes you more likely to fail the test. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | In real life, there is little to no evidence that polygraphs perform better than chance. Interpretation of the results is highly subjective and usually biased by prior suspicions. And even if polygraphs did work, it is trivial to beat them using measures such as biting one's tongue or thinking exciting thoughts to increase responses on the control questions. Most polygraph operators know this; the polygraph is a distraction, and it's the operator who's really watching you. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | For almost all cases, real life polygraphs are simply "Unreliable, Unscientific and Biased", according to the National Academy of Sciences, their findings not being admissible in court. After all, people can have their blood pressure through the roof, sweat buckets, generally being a nervous wreck and still tell the truth. |
| 22 | [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs Despite this, they are still given great weight by both the media and various governments.]] |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Interesting note: The polygraph was invented by Creator/WilliamMoultonMarston, who also created the character of ComicBook/WonderWoman... who happens to wield a magic lasso that ''forces'' people to tell her the truth! |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Compare with LivingLieDetector, when someone can discern falsehood as a superpower. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Examples: |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 34 | * An advert for antiperspirant has a FemmeFataleSpy being tested, but she passes the 'galvanic skin response' thanks to the product. |
| 35 | * One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7A1dbsvdtw Cars.com advert]] has a couple talking about the lack of drama in buying their car from a Cars.com-sponsored dealership, so to make up for it, the dealership hooks up the husband to a polygraph, and tell the wife to ask her husband anything. She then asks if [[DoesThisMakeMeLookFat he thinks her sister is prettier than she is]], whereupon the husband starts [[TakeAThirdOption laughing and then rips off the polygraph sensors to avoid answering the question]]. |
| 36 | * A commercial for [[Advertising/EnergizerBunny Energizer batteries]] features an Energizer scientist hooked up to a lie detector and the Energizer Bunny in a cage above [[Main/PiranhaProblem a tank of piranhas]]. If the scientist told the truth about whether or not Energizer outlasted Duracell in digital cameras, the Bunny would be safe, and if not, the Bunny would take a dive. |
| 37 | * In one TELUS ad, Danny the TELUS installer is hooked up to a lie detector and asked about Optik TV. The test confirms that Danny is telling the truth about Optik TV. |
| 38 | -->'''Operator:''' Is is true that Optik TV has the most HD channels?\ |
| 39 | '''Danny:''' Yup.\ |
| 40 | ''[ding!]''\ |
| 41 | '''Operator:''' I've seen you on TV. Do you work out?\ |
| 42 | '''Danny:''' I hit the gym.\ |
| 43 | ''[buzzer]''\ |
| 44 | '''Danny:''' I do!\ |
| 45 | ''[buzzer]''\ |
| 46 | '''Operator:''' Uh huh. |
| 47 | * A 1990s commercial for Snapple has the writer of a fan letter (in which he states his love of Snapple and says [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "I am not lying when I say this"]]) brought in for a polygraph test to prove he really was being honest. The machine is realistically depicted as graphing his stress levels with wiggling pens. He passes. |
| 48 | * One commercial has a salesman hooked up to a lie detector while he lists the features of the product; as he names each one, the lie detector gives an approving 'ding'. Then he finishes with "You can trust me." [[ReadingsBlewUpTheScale The detector promptly explodes]]. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 52 | * ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': [[spoiler:Hahari]] has one that takes the form of a robotic chair, first using it on Rentarou in chapter 18 to determine his feelings for [[spoiler:her daughter]], and later in chapter 66 to interrogate the girlfriends most likely to submit questionable ingredients for the hot pot. |
| 53 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' when Fujiwara pulls one out while the student council is playing the 10 Yen game just to make sure that nobody lies while giving their answers (though it never actually ends up being used). |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 57 | * ''Animation/MotuPatlu'': Dr. Jhatka invents a lie-detecting robot in the episode "Lie Detector Robot". The robot, upon hearing anyone say a falsehood, gives them a big DopeSlap. However, John the Don and his minions try to steal it and accidentally damage it in the process, causing it to slap people [[ReversePolarity if they say anything true instead]]. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 61 | * Subverted in ''ComicBook/Camelot3000'' when King Arthur has each of those suspected of betraying Merlin hold Excalibur while swearing their innocence, saying that the sword can cleave truth from falsehood. The prospect of having to do this makes the culprit break down and confess, after which Arthur admits that he'd made up the claim that his sword can do any such thing. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': In one story, General Ross tries to get Doc Sampson to take a lie detector test regarding his knowledge of the Hulk's whereabouts, forgetting that as a psychologist, Sampson is perfectly capable of deceiving it. Sampson's response is to threaten to [[AssShove cram it into one of Ross's orifices]]. |
| 63 | * Lie detectors in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' function on the basis of red and green lights, though they can apparently still be fooled, for instance by messing with the signal. Two spinoffs have shown undercover judges able to beat it. [[ComicBook/LowLife Aimee Nixon]] is a natural ConsummateLiar and, as a result, her tests always give a true result no matter [[RefugeInAudacity how ridiculous her lies are]]. [[ComicBook/TheSimpingDetective Jack Point]], on the other hand, has developed a technique where he rewrites the questions mentally so his answers are [[ExactWords technically true]] and register as such on the birdie. For example, when asked if he has drunk alcohol, he takes it to mean pure alcohol and not whiskey. He notes that it's a pretty exhausting process. |
| 64 | * The 1980s British ''ComicBook/{{Starblazer}}'' comic has the Truth Meter and the Truth Sensors, but the latter takes a long time to work. |
| 65 | * ComicBook/{{Superman}} once encounters an inquisitive college professor who begins to suspect that one of his students was Superboy and starts asking everyone if they're him as a demonstration for the workings of a lie detector. Superman avoids detection by realizing that he is no longer a "boy". |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Steve Trevor tries to hook Paula von Gunther into a lie detector before questioning her in the first issue, but she manages to hit him with it, so she is taken back to her cell instead. This story has the bonus of being written by one of the inventors of the lie detector, Creator/WilliamMoultonMarston. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 70 | * ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'': "The Blank" has a classic scene in which an actual lie detector is used for a great trick. Tracy has a criminal in custody who apparently knows who the Blank is, but he will not cooperate, so Tracy convinces him to take an optional lie detector test and then asks him to look over some mug shots to indicate which one is the Blank. Sure enough, the criminal demands to be disconnected from the lie detector, only to be told by Tracy that [[INeverSaidItWasPoison by doing so, he just revealed that the real identity of the Blank has a criminal record]], a vital clue to work with. |
| 71 | * A recurring theme in ''ComicStrip/SlylockFox'' is an apparently infallible lie detector which detects the actual truth of a statement rather than intent to deceive, leaving Slylock (and the reader) to explain how the criminals have used ExactWords to get round it. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 75 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Ami tries to use her Mercury Computer as one in [[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/dungeon-keeper-ami-sailor-moon-dungeon-keeper.31639/page-136#post-8635931 "Adamantine"]]: |
| 76 | -->She paused to focus all of her computer's sensors on the trapped dwarf. She didn't want to miss any sign he was lying when he answered her next question. [...]\ |
| 77 | The readings on her screen indicated that the padding of the Duke's armour kept him warm under the ice, and there was no shivering to obscure his body's involuntary reactions. There were no indications that he had been less than truthful, either. [...]\ |
| 78 | this being her first attempt at using her computer as a lie detector[.] |
| 79 | * In Creator/Foobar137's ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' works, Phineas creates one that works. It's a translucent white sphere that flashes green for truth, red for lie. |
| 80 | ** In "No Shovel Required", he uses it for TwerpSweating. |
| 81 | --->"Mr. Flynn...what is this?"\ |
| 82 | "It's a lie detector. Now that it's calibrated...what are your intentions toward my daughter?" |
| 83 | ** In "Honesty", he uses it to try to prove to Isabella that he isn't lying about leaking information from the Fireside Girls initiation. |
| 84 | * In ''[[http://reynardnoir.wordpress.com/category/lie-detector Reynard Noir]]'', ComicStrip/{{Slylock|Fox}} simply tricks the perps into ''thinking'' it's caught them lying by raising their stress levels. |
| 85 | [[/folder]] |
| 86 | |
| 87 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 88 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'': Harley Quinn tells Batman that she doesn't know where the Joker has hidden a dirty bomb. The eyes on Batman's mask light up, and we see a scan of her physiology (heart rate, pupil dilation, etc.) which reads as normal to establish that she's telling the truth. (This raises some FridgeLogic -- she had just fought Batman hand-to-hand, so why would her heart rate be steady?) |
| 89 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'': In a deleted scene, Wyldstyle is captured and wired up to a lie detector. As control questions, she is asked "Is your name Wyldstyle?" and "Do you love Batman?" She says yes to both. [[spoiler:Her real name is Lucy, and she is transferring her affections to Emmet.]] |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 93 | * ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloGoToMars'': One is made by the Venusians using an electric chair that can read minds. |
| 94 | * ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension'': Lord Whorfin hooks Buckaroo up to the Shock Tower, which not only detects when Buckaroo is lying but gives him a shock when he does. |
| 95 | * In ''Film/AnatomyOfAMurder'', the defendant's wife has taken a lie detector test, but its results are not admissible in court. Biegler mentions the fact anyway. |
| 96 | * ''Film/BasicInstinct'': During Catherine's interrogation at the station, she offers to take a polygraph test, which seems to confirm that she's innocent. Nick counters that she simply manipulated the results, because he knows people who have done it before -- not mentioning that he's talking about himself. |
| 97 | * The Voigt-Kampf test in ''Film/BladeRunner'', although it's more of an emotion detector. |
| 98 | * ''Film/{{Cypher}}'' is build around the premise that neurograph machines have become able to tell for certain if somebody tells a lie. Thus, spies have to be brainwashed in order to protect their secret identities. |
| 99 | * {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'', which uses a polygraph -- not necessarily to detect lies, but to detect emotional fluctuations. |
| 100 | * ''Film/FlashGordon1980'': While Princess Aura is being interrogated by Klytus, she is hooked up to one of these. When she lies, a light blinks and a siren goes off. |
| 101 | * In ''Film/{{Freejack}}'', Vacendak suspects a traitor in his team and wants to run everyone through a lie detector. When his NumberTwo (a longtime friend) starts to walk away, Vacendak tells him to "step up!" The other man puts his hand on the scanner and angrily recites his name, position, and his attitude towards being thought of as a traitor. Vacendak counters that he wasn't testing his friend, he was testing the machine. When the machine gives out the "truth" result, he adds that the machine works. |
| 102 | * Used in great comedic effect in ''Film/MeetTheParents''. Already intimidated by Jack Byrnes, Greg is hooked up to the machine. When Byrnes asks "Have you ever watched a pornographic video?", Greg visibly stumbles through a "No" while the needles flicker about wildly. He later finds out that Byrnes is a LivingLieDetector, so the polygraph was just a prop. |
| 103 | * In one of the ''Film/OceansEleven'' films, the team nerd has to pass a polygraph test as part of a scam, and spoofs the system by keeping a thumbtack in his shoe and pressing his foot down on it while answering the calibration questions. Later in the same movie, the sophisticated computer systems can tell if a person was cheating at the games by reading various body signals. It is fooled when the rigged slot machine gives off the giant jackpot to a random woman who didn't know about the con. The first example even has the person administering the test point out that if he didn't have the machine, he would've sworn that Livingston was lying, but the machine passes him. |
| 104 | * This is basically the first plot twist in ''Film/TheSentinel2006''. Secret Service Agent Pete Garrison is blamed for treachery and has to go on the run because he failed a polygraph test. Why? Because he was scared they'd find out he's been having an affair with the first lady! |
| 105 | * ''Film/{{Sneakers}}'' plays this oh-so-straight. The sneakers improvise a lie detector out of an old Cradle Modem and some miscellaneous equipment. They attempt to hand-wave it by saying that it's not as good as a real lie detector because it can only test the stress in the person's voice (note that this is through a phone line, and into a device that essentially puts a microphone up to the earpiece), but it still seems to work perfectly, and they trust the results implicitly. |
| 106 | * ''Film/StrangeBrew'': The villains are trying to recover a data disk that Bob and Doug abesent-mindedly swiped from the brewery. Ted is puzzled when the machine barely reacts to Doug claiming he doesn't have it, but seems to confirm the machine is working when Doug denies [[{{Gasshole}} loudly farting]]. |
| 107 | -->'''Bob:''' Maybe it's out of gas, [[MooseAndMapleSyrup eh]]? ''[Doug farts]'' Uh, man! You farted!\ |
| 108 | '''Doug:''' [[BlatantLies It wasn't me, it was the chair]]!\ |
| 109 | '''Bob:''' He's lying!\ |
| 110 | ''[the needle on the polygraph moves]''\ |
| 111 | '''Ted:''' He's definitely lying, all right. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 115 | [[AC:Examples by author:]] |
| 116 | * Creator/HBeamPiper: |
| 117 | ** ''Literature/LittleFuzzy'' series has the veridicator, which shows blue for truth, red for lies, and mixed patterns for half-truths. The veridicator is an accepted and vital part of the judicial system, to the point that trying to prove that it works on the Fuzzy race is a major plot point in the third book--otherwise they can't legally testify in court. The books do explicitly point out a limitation of even perfect (i.e. fictional) lie detectors: A witness who sincerely but mistakenly believes a false proposition will be registered as "truthful" by the veridicator. In-universe, lawyers like to make the point by telling the old saw about the lunatic who said he was God and the veridicator backed him up. |
| 118 | ** The veridicator is also used for an interrogation in ''Space Viking'': |
| 119 | --->''"This is a veridicator. That globe'll light blue; the moment you try to lie to us, it'll turn red. And the moment it turns red, I'm going to hammer your teeth down your throat with the butt of this pistol."'' |
| 120 | [[AC:Examples by title:]] |
| 121 | * In William Brittain's story "Literature/TheArtificialLiar", one of the guards at a government research center is {{gaslighting}} a file clerk who lived in the same boardinghouse as him so that during the inevitable investigation after said guard has smuggled out some highly sensitive material, his chosen patsy will have extreme reactions to the polygraph questions. |
| 122 | * In Creator/RandallGarrett's story "Literature/TheBestPolicy", an alien race planning an invasion kidnaps a random human and hooks him up to one of these in order to get information. He manages to [[ExactWords cleverly word his answers]] so as to give them the impression that humanity is insanely powerful and not to be messed with. |
| 123 | * In ''Literature/BetweenPlanets'', the protagonist Don Harvey is subject to questioning by Venus Republic soldiers while hooked up to a lie detector after first waiving his rights about self-incrimination. |
| 124 | * {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidCabinFever'' when the school is vandalized. The police come there to question the worst troublemakers, but it's obvious that their "foolproof lie detector" is just a photocopier. Whenever the troublemaker says something they don't like, they hit a button to copy a sheet that says "He's lying". Predictably, they fail to catch the real culprits. |
| 125 | * In the {{novelization}} of ''Radio/{{Earthsearch}}'', the Chief Prosecutor of the Solaric Empire interrogates Astra with two cerebral analysers focused on her brain. Lying modulates the beams causing a feedback "that you are unlikely to survive", so when Astra says that the spaceship she's from is unarmed and stranded in orbit around another planet, the Prosecutor thinks it's safe to kill the prisoners. Astra isn't lying; she just doesn't know that the asteroid DeflectorShields make a handy ImprovisedWeapon and the surgical androids can be reprogrammed to pilot the spaceship, which arrives JustInTime for a BigDamnHeroes. |
| 126 | * Subverted as early as 1913, in the ''Literature/FatherBrown'' story "The Mistake of the Machine". Father Brown is introduced to a Psychometric Machine that measures the suspect's pulse, and is rather scathing of the idea, saying American scientists must be great sentimentalists to try and prove things from heart-throbs. He proves his point when a man is accused of murder based on his pulse rate when the victim's name is mentioned, and Father Brown is able to demonstrate another reason for this. |
| 127 | -->'''Greywood Usher:''' Now, in my opinion, that machine can't lie.\ |
| 128 | '''Father Brown:''' No machine can lie. Nor can it tell the truth. |
| 129 | * ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In the first book of the ''Hawk & Fisher'' spinoff series, the suspects are questioned under a [[TruthSerums truth spell]] which forces people to speak only truthful statements. This attempt to find out who committed two murders fails, due to [[spoiler:the murders having been committed by two different people, each of whom could truthfully deny having killed ''both'' victims]]. |
| 130 | * ''Literature/GoblinsInTheCastle'': A magical variant appears in ''Goblins on the Prowl''. Solomon's Collar, on top of letting the wearer [[SpeaksFluentAnimal understand and be understood by animals]], tightens and starts to choke them whenever they lie. |
| 131 | * ''Literature/TheGoblinWood'' features an explicitly magical version of this; a bell that rings when a lie is told near it. This has its downsides, as indicated when its user is asked, "Are you sure this will work?" "Of course I'm sure--" Ding. [[spoiler:Later, her captive turns the questions around on her, and in response to her MotiveRant asks whether her ActualPacifist mother would appreciate the violent vengeance that has been taken for her murder. "If my mother was still alive, she'd be proud of me!" [[HeroicBSOD Ding]].]] |
| 132 | * The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series has the Truth Spell, the only form of magic known to the Heralds between the death of Vanyel and Elspeth's becoming a Herald-Mage centuries later. The spell has two forms: the weaker form is a truth/lie indicator, the stronger form forces the target to tell the truth as they know it. |
| 133 | * ''Literature/KonoSuba'': After Kazuma is accused of deliberately teleporting a bomb to the governor's house, he is arrested and interrogated via a magic item capable of detecting any lies told in the vicinity. After being forced to honestly answer a few questions that make him uncomfortable, Kazuma manages to convince the interrogator that he was genuinely trying to save the city of Axel; however, he accidentally sets off the lie detector by claiming to not be acquainted with any of the Demon King's generals, having forgotten that Wiz is still technically one of them; as a result, he is misunderstood as being in league with the Demon King's army and put on trial. During the trial proper, Kazuma's culpability is aggravated due to circumstantial testimonies from various people that are taken entirely out of context; when all seems lost and the judge is on the verge of pronouncing him guilty, Kazuma loses his patience and loudly asserts that he is ''not'' in league with the Demon King or his army and that he is ''not'' a terrorist, which does not set off the lie detector and therefore is taken as truth. Unfortunately for Kazuma, the [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt governor]] doesn't give a shit about his allegiance and threatens the judge into declaring him guilty anyway, [[ItsAllAboutMe since Kazuma did get his mansion blown up]]. |
| 134 | * In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', a witness is forced to tell the "whole truth" after being given too much truth serum. Sure enough, he begins spouting facts about everything the universe has to offer. It takes him several years. |
| 135 | * In ''Literature/TheLostFleet'', interrogation rooms are actually brain scanners similar to an fMRI. The machine shows the interrogator when regions of the subject's brain associated with deception or various other emotions light up, so not only do they know when the subject lies, but they can also tell when [[ArmorPiercingQuestion one of their questions has really hit home]], even if the subject is refusing to answer at all. There are ways to deceive without setting off the machine, but those usually involve WeaselWords that a skilled interrogator can spot. Of course, the machine can still only tell you what the subject believes, so false answers with no deception noted are still possible from a dupe or a delusional subject. |
| 136 | * The ''Magic and Malice'' duology had a truth spell connected with a set of artifacts known as the Saltash Set. The spell used with the full set can compel a person to tell the truth. With an incomplete set of the artifacts, it just indicates whether the person is telling a lie or the truth (or if they're hiding part of the truth). |
| 137 | * In ''Literature/TheMarvelousLandOfOz'', Glenda the Good possesses a magical white pearl that turns black in the presence of falsehood, which she uses to extract a confession from the witch Mombi. |
| 138 | * ''Literature/NorbyTheMixedUpRobot'': The truth wand used by Ing's minions will hurt someone if they tell a lie. A mild shock for a small lie, and bigger shocks for bigger lies. Fargo demonstrates its effectiveness by saying that [[TheCharmer he isn't interested in women]], then scolds his brother for suggesting such an outrageous lie. |
| 139 | * In ''Literature/OnAPaleHorse'', Luna and Zane hold Truthstones (which glow when someone lies) while discussing sensitive personal matters. |
| 140 | * Creator/KurtVonnegut's novel ''Creator/PlayerPiano'' includes a courtroom scene where the protagonist is hooked up to a lie detector with a large dial ranging from "False" to "True". |
| 141 | * ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has an unconventional way to compel the truth through [[NotTheIntendedUse creative application]] of a Slave Crest. Slave Crests function as a MagicallyBindingContract between master and slave. When applied to someone, they become physically incapable of disobeying their master's orders. If they try to disobey the order anyway, the crest gives the slave a magical electric shock [[{{Geas}} until they do whatever it was that they were told to do]]. During a court trial, a Slave Crest can be applied to a witness with the judge as their master, who then orders the witness to "tell the truth". This would make the Slave Crest shock the witness if they lied in court. [[spoiler:This application of a Slave Crest is how Malty's FalseRapeAccusation against Naofumi gets dismissed; Malty is such a CompulsiveLiar that she can't help but lie in court, even after being told what the Crest would do and being shocked repeatedly from lying to the judge. Malty is eventually asked point-blank if Naofumi attempted to rape her; when Malty says that he did, she's zapped by the Slave Crest with such intensity that she's knocked flat on her back. Since it's clear that Malty is lying, the charges against Naofumi are dropped.]] |
| 142 | * Appears in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' novel ''Off Armageddon Reef'' as a piece of high-tech gear that looks like a glowing gem the protagonist recognizes but the locals regard as magical, with the color changing to indicate a lie. The protagonist very carefully phrases the answers to not set it off. |
| 143 | * The Katharine Kerr novel ''Literature/{{Snare}}'' has shamans who can smell whether or not a person is telling the truth. It works by detecting a person's emotional state through subtle changes in a person's scent (one of the talents held by the shamans is exceptionally sharp senses), and lying makes most people nervous. It's mentioned that this might not work against a habitual liar who would remain perfectly calm when deceiving others. |
| 144 | * In ''Literature/SnowCrash'', the rump of the federal government (which pretends to still rule [[DividedStatesOfAmerica the USA]]) has its employees take weekly lie detector tests that may involve sedative drugs and NMR machines to detect activity in parts of the brain used for lying. It's a plausible technology for a reliable lie detector. Being that Stevenson is known for doing lots of research and [[ShownTheirWork Showing Their Work]], the book naturally includes rarely documented steps like collecting urine samples to check for drugs that might throw off the machine, and being taken to the test in an elevator so that you can't claim your heart rate is up because you just climbed the stairs. |
| 145 | * ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'': |
| 146 | ** In the first novel, Slippery Jim [=diGriz=] [[TrespassingToTalk breaks into the home]] of a politician and [[CorruptPolitician finds evidence of numerous corrupt deals]]. When confronted the politician denies everything, whereupon Jim reveals that the security robot holding him captive is also a lie detector. The robot confirms that 74% of everything the politician has just said is a lie...''except'' about the case the Rat is investigating. Their conversation then proceeds on a more amiable basis. |
| 147 | ** In ''The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge'', Jim beats the polygraph by working himself into an artificial state of panic before the test, then thinking boring thoughts during it, so he looks like someone who's nervous about why he's being interrogated by the SecretPolice, but then relaxes when the questions have nothing to do with him. |
| 148 | ** In ''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'', Jim insists on a lie detector while giving a statement to the secret police. He's told the chair he's sitting in is one, causing Jim to think, "I'm glad I didn't know that when telling those other lies!" Jim then proceeds to give a [[ExactWords truthful but misleading statement]] that clears him. |
| 149 | * ''Literature/TheStarBeast'': A "truth meter" is used on witnesses during a court trial. When the subject lies, a needle swings into the red zone, a ruby light flashes, and a warning buzzer goes off. As with the H. Beam Piper example, Heinlein notes the limitation that such a machine cannot actually detect sincere but mistaken beliefs. A witness is telling all sorts of lies and the device keeps going off (indicating that on at least some level she knows she's lying). At one time, however, she tells an obvious falsehood and the buzzer doesn't go off. The judge concludes that she really believes what she is saying... even though it patently is false. |
| 150 | * ''Literature/{{Steppe}}'' gives us swords whose edges glow one color if a person is telling the truth and another if the person is lying. |
| 151 | * ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr'': During a therapy session, Jim [=McCarthy=] is told he's lying; he immediately jumps out of the chair he's sitting in. The therapist answers the unspoken question that yes, there are polygraph sensors in the chair, but he can tell Jim is lying from the stress in his voice. |
| 152 | * In ''Literature/TheWasteLands'', Roland and company are on board a high-speed train run by a sophisticated AI. The AI informs them it can tell with great accuracy when they are lying by monitoring voice stress patterns. |
| 153 | * The humorous sci-fi novel ''Literature/WhoGoesHere'' by Bob Shaw has a natural extension of this trope: a MadScientist, frustrated with the failings of lie detectors, designs a device to force the subject to tell the truth. It consists of deodorant to stop him sweating, and devices to keep the subject's breathing and heart rates constant. It fails. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 157 | * An episode of ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' has Adam debunk the usefulness of a polygraph, pointing out that even the machine's creator was horrified when he learned that cops were using it to seriously question suspects. Hell, the polygraph was once used to tell that a ''plant'' was lying. The cops then admit that they know it doesn't work, but they use it to [[PerpSweating Perp Sweat]] ignorant suspects. Of course, the whole thing is an EngineeredPublicConfession to the audience. |
| 158 | * Avoided in ''Series/{{Alias}}'', which features a more realistic lie detector -- that is to say, one that doesn't explicitly say "Truth" or "Lie", but just provides raw data such as heart rate and blood flow in particular areas of the brain, requiring the interrogator to use his own judgment to decide on the truth of a given statement, and being much harder to fool. Then, outright subverted, when the difficulty of tricking the device almost gives away the protagonist, when after extensive training and practice with her handler her results look ''too'' perfectly honest during the real interrogation. |
| 159 | * In ''Series/TheAmericans'', Stan tells Nina that she will have to pass the lie detector in order to be exfiltrated, thinking Nina was sincere with him. As Nina was a DoubleAgent, she was trained by Oleg on how to beat the test. [[spoiler:She did.]] |
| 160 | * ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': |
| 161 | ** Early in the first season, Oliver Queen is arrested on suspicion of being the Vigilante, and volunteers to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. Laurel points out that such tests are inadmissible in court, but Oliver says it's for Laurel's father Quentin, the one who is suspicious of Oliver. Oliver passes, but Laurel notes a discrepancy: Oliver said he had never been to a specific location where the Vigilante had been seen, but Laurel knows he went there on a school trip as a kid. Normally that wouldn't be worth noting, he could have just forgotten, but there ''was'' a small blip on the lie detector, just not big enough to be registered as a lie. Laurel realizes that means he did lie intentionally, but kept his biometrics under control, meaning he could have been lying on any of the questions. |
| 162 | ** A BatmanColdOpen in Season 2 has Oliver PerpSweating a lowlife while [[MissionControl Felicity Smoak back at the Arrowcave]] does an audio test on his responses to check for deception. She gets Oliver to ask what color his shoes are to get a baseline. Oliver complies despite knowing how silly he's going to look asking the question. |
| 163 | * In the ''Series/BarneyMiller'' episode "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS5E13 Voice Analyzer]]", the entire 12th Precinct is tested with a lie detector (a procedure that was the Hot Topic of the Day in the 1970s) after a newspaper report of corruption. Det. Wojciehowicz failed miserably due to being nervous and deliberately provoked, while Det. Dietrich passed perfectly (despite claiming to be from outer space) simply by remaining calm. |
| 164 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': In a flashback to before the war, Adama is seen applying for a job in which he must take a lie detector test. One of the baseline questions (used to establish the reliability of the other questions) is "Are you a Cylon?" (This was before anyone knows that [[TheyLookLikeUsNow human-looking Cylons exist]]). Adama walks out of the test after getting angry about having his word questioned. |
| 165 | * In ''Series/BionicWoman'', the Berkut headshrink is impressed by Jonas Bledsoe's ability to beat a lie detector while saying "I love you." Jonas puts this down to [[AwfulWeddedLife his long marriage]]. |
| 166 | * ''Series/BlakesSeven'': |
| 167 | ** "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E1TheWayBack The Way Back]]" shows that this trope doesn't work on someone who's been {{brainwashed}} to believe their own lies. Blake is [[FrameUp framed]] for molesting children, and it's mentioned that the accusers have all passed a lie detector test. However, he's been framed by the government so they DontCreateAMartyr, and his lawyer discovers the children have all been taken out of school for unregistered medical treatment on the days they said they were assaulted. |
| 168 | ** In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E4DawnOfTheGods Dawn of the Gods]]", our heroes are able to beat this through ExactWords. The Caliph is seeking Orac, not realising that it's actually a MasterComputer. |
| 169 | --->'''Caliph:''' The [[AgonyBeam neuronic whip]] is on an automatic setting. It has only to sense one lie and it will boil your brains in your skull. Where is Orac?\ |
| 170 | '''Tarrant:''' If he's not on the ship, I don't know where he is.\ |
| 171 | '''Caliph:''' How tall is he? ''[Tarrant demonstrates]'' A dwarf?\ |
| 172 | '''Tarrant:''' We never think of him as one.\ |
| 173 | '''Caliph:''' What is the color of his hair?\ |
| 174 | '''Tarrant:''' He hasn't got any. A bald dwarf shouldn't be too hard to find. |
| 175 | ** Vila insists that MasterComputer Orac verify an offer of Servalan's is genuine, apparently because [[RobotsAreJustBetter Computers Are Just Better]] at detecting these things. This is suggested in an earlier episode in which a RebelLeader has been replaced by a Federation robot and kills a rebel who's become suspicious, because it would be able to pick up his body language showing that suspicion no matter how he tried to hide it. |
| 176 | * There's one beneath the Buy More in ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', which is used to question a character about [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Fulcrum]] activities. Too bad Chuck doesn't pay attention to the last answer... |
| 177 | * ''Series/TheCommish'': The title character knows that an informant is somehow beating the lie detector, and uses a HoneyTrap to find out how. It turns out that he's placed a thumbtack in his shoe, and is pressing down on it so as to give the same response each time. The Commish schedules another test, then has him walk up and down an endless number of stairs under the excuse that the testing area keeps getting changed. Eventually, the informant realises that the game is up and removes the tack to give his by-now extremely sore foot a rest. |
| 178 | * In ''Series/DeathNote'', L uses a polygraph on Light. (He does not do so in [[Manga/DeathNote the manga]] or anime.) |
| 179 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 180 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E3FrontierInSpace Frontier in Space]]", the Doctor is subjected to a MindProbe which is basically used as this trope. Unfortunately, his interrogator [[TimeTravelersAreSpies refuses to believe that he's telling the truth]] and keeps asking the same questions [[LogicBomb until the probe blows up]] (which the Doctor predicted would happen earlier). |
| 181 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]", Professor Jericho has Claire Brown wired up to a lie detector for a test of her psychic abilities, and gets annoyed when his baseline question about her date of birth registers as a lie. Unknown to him, she's a time traveler. |
| 182 | * ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'': |
| 183 | -->'''Mr. Wick:''' Carey, you're one of our most valued employees. ''[buzz]'' Well, maybe not, but I respect you a lot. ''[buzz]'' You've got a bright future here... ''[buzz]'' Oh, will you get these things off me! I don't like being tied down like this! ''[buzz]'' |
| 184 | * ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': In "[[Recap/ElementaryS02E09OnTheLine On the Line]]", a man accused of kidnapping and murder voluntarily takes a polygraph test to prove his innocence. Holmes immediately works out that the man was tricking the machine (controlled breathing and biting his tongue on certain questions) to hide his guilt, but the evidence is in his favour so they have to let him go. Detective Gregson makes sure to note that polygraphs aren't considered reliable enough to be admissible in court. |
| 185 | * In ''Series/{{ER}}'', after Doug tells his best friend Mark that he has reconciled with Carol, Mark teasingly asks him if she makes him submit to this as a condition (Doug cheated on her left and right the first time they dated). |
| 186 | * ''Series/FamilyMatters'': Steve's lie detector has the added feature of giving Carl an electric shock if he doesn't tell the truth. After Carl and Steve work out the issue they were having, Harriet decides to take the opportunity to ask Carl how many women he was serious about before her, resulting in him being continuously shocked. |
| 187 | * ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': |
| 188 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E08DreamALittleDream Dream a Little Dream]]", Chiana and Rygel must defend Zhaan against a murder charge on Litigara, a planet where 90% of the population are lawyers. One of the cornerstones of their legal system is the (generally considered to be metaphorical) "Light of Truth", which blazes brighter in the presence of lies. Chiana [[UnconventionalCourtroomTactics lights a broken chair leg on fire]] to serve as the Light of Truth when accusing a prominent lawyer of framing Zhaan. [[spoiler:The accusation is true, but Pilot is manipulating the stick from orbit.]] |
| 189 | ** [[Recap/FarscapeS03E07ThanksForSharing Thanks for Sharing"]] has a straighter example in the form of an alien [[VideoGame/HalfLife headcrab]] monster that has been trained by the local merchant guild to sit on people's heads and stab through their skulls if they tell a lie. It requires incredible force of will to fool, and Crichton would have been killed by it if not for the fact that [[spoiler:he has access to an identical twin for whom the statements he has to say are indeed true]]. The villain of the episode manages to deny all of his crimes with much effort, but can't successfully say a false answer to a big question that Crichton asks completely by accident: [[spoiler:"Well, aren't you just a good and loyal son?"]]. |
| 190 | * ''Series/GilligansIsland'': In "[[Recap/GilligansIslandS3E19LoveysSecretAdmirer Lovey's Secret Admirer]]", the Professor builds a lie detector out of -- what else? -- [[BambooTechnology bamboo and coconuts]] and tests all the men to find out who sent Mrs. Howell a love letter. One of the gags is The Skipper passing until he says, "See? I always tell the truth!", which sets it off. [[BrickJoke At the end of the episode]], Gilligan is playing with it when Mary Ann comes in asking him what happened to a couple of coconut cream pies she made, and Gilligan denies seeing or taking them, which [[ExplosiveInstrumentation causes the lie detector to explode]]. |
| 191 | -->'''Gilligan:''' Well, they ''were'' delicious. |
| 192 | * ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': Michael uses a cube which flashes green when someone tells the truth and red when they lie when investigating Eleanor. {{Justified|Trope}}, as the cube detects lies through [[AWizardDidIt explicitly supernatural means]], so it makes sense that it would be faster and more reliable than normal lie detectors. |
| 193 | * An episode of ''Series/TheGoodWife'' revolves around the idea that NSA employees are regularly given lie detector tests. The results are never depicted (including when a character answers a question regarding removal of classified files from the office while unsure if he technically did so), and it's implied that the tests are more about presenting questions intended to manipulate people into revealing their own mistakes or wrongdoings. |
| 194 | * Used at least twice in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' ("We're gonna ''neutron'' this son-of-a-bitch!"), and parodied in at least one case; the 'lie detector' turns out to be a photocopier that the detectives have loaded with sheets of paper with "LIE!" printed on them, which they use to trick particularly credulous suspects into confessing the truth. (This trick is repeated in ''Series/TheWire'', below; both shows were created by Creator/DavidSimon based on his experiences shadowing real Baltimore police officers.) |
| 195 | * The gimmick of ''Series/HotSeat'' is that couples are asked questions about their married life while attached to a device that measures emotional levels. |
| 196 | * ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House once uses a CAT scan as a lie detector, observing which parts of the patient's brain are active to tell when he's lying. |
| 197 | * An early CoolAndUnusualPunishment in ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' involves Murr being hooked up to a polygraph and being asked increasingly embarrassing questions... to his entire alma mater. |
| 198 | * The use of a lie detector is actually PlayedForDrama in an episode of ''Series/TheJeffersons'' when Lionel is offered a high paying job. At his interview, after answering all questions given to him, he is obligated to answer them again while hooked up to a lie detector. Feeling that he's being denied his rights, he turns the job down, [[SkewedPriorities much to George's anger]]. |
| 199 | * Used in ''Series/TheJeremyKyleShow'', and treated as if it has God-like infallibility. This led to the show's downfall when a guest in an upcoming episode was DrivenToSuicide after a test determined that he was cheating on his girlfriend. |
| 200 | * In the ''Series/JonathanCreek'' episode "The Tailor's Dummy", TV presenter Carla, who is preparing to host a talk show with a lie detector as the gimmick, uses it to prove to Jonathan she's happy in her marriage with the show's director. It announces that she's lying. Later, the director (who doesn't know about this) admits to Jonathan that it's completely random. |
| 201 | * Used repeatedly in all versions of ''Series/LawAndOrder''. The show frequently alludes to its fallibility and inadmissibility in court, at least. |
| 202 | * ''Series/LieToMe'': |
| 203 | ** The show, which bases its detection off people's [[YouCanAlwaysTellALiar microexpressions]], hates polygraphs. The characters point out that your reaction is going to be altered if say, a hot chick walks in and takes over the lie detector exam. Also, you might as well use a large egg being held in your hands as one, because if you are under stress and squeeze and break it, that could indicate that you're lying. One episode shows that it's possible to beat a polygraph by taking a depressant to decrease your body's stress reaction. The main character, Dr. Lightman, can make utter hash out of not just polygraphs but ''his own system'' -- in the pilot episode, he tests a recruit by ''faking'' stress. |
| 204 | ** In a later episode, a (fake) polygraph is used on a suspect who Lightman knows is going to try to trick the system. The idea is that he'll focus on trying to trick the polygraph instead of the people reading his facial cues. |
| 205 | * The first episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' has a polygraph that works this way. Clark's 'baseline' questions are 'Is your name Clark Kent?' and 'Are you Superman?'; he's supposed to say yes to both and get a 'lie' response on the second, and even though he's totally freaked out at saying it to the Superman-hunters, saying 'yes' he's Superman gets a no-lie flatline. The hunters mutter "the machine is broken, or this reporter is so mild-mannered he hasn't got a pulse," to make things more confusing and funny. He sets it off by ''blowing'' on the needle with super-breath to get his no, then sets it off by saying he can't contact Superman. (Although it's fine with 'I've never met Superman.') Magic! On another question where he needs to set it off, he levitates an inch above the floor and drop the chair, setting off the needles. |
| 206 | * Used in ''Series/MacGyver1985''; true to form, it works well enough to cause the villain of the week to give himself away. Notable components include [[MacGyvering an alarm clock and a sphygmomanometer]]. |
| 207 | * Talk shows like ''Series/{{Maury}}'' use this all the time, often to find out whether a spouse or significant other is unfaithful or for other purposes -- so much so that the use on ''Maury'' has now become a {{meme|ticMutation}}. |
| 208 | -->''"You said that ''[Statement]''. ''[Contradiction]'' determined that was a lie."'' |
| 209 | * ''Series/{{Monk}}'': In "[[Recap/MonkS2E12MrMonkAndTheTVStar Mr. Monk and the TV Star]]", Monk highly suspects that TV star Brad Terry is guilty of murdering his ex-wife. For the benefit of the doubt, Stottlemeyer has Brad submit to a lie detector test, which he passes with flying colors. However, later, when Monk is talking with Brad in his trailer as Brad is working out on his treadmill, he notices that Brad's heartbeat doesn't waver even as he lies to an assistant about liking her script idea, which leads Monk to realize that Brad taught himself how to beat the polygraph. |
| 210 | * ''Series/MrShow'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdIDwYW_JZg this sketch,]] prospective employers are interviewing a job applicant and strap him to a lie detector that buzzes when it senses a lie. The interview starts with basic questions (like "Have you ever drank alcohol to excess?" "Have you ever stolen from an employer?" and "Have you ever taken an illegal drug?"), but they're soon flummoxed when the applicant -- who answers everything in the affirmative -- begins confessing to the most ludicrous things, including being addicted to every hard drug in existence, stealing pens and "space plans" from NASA, killing a man with his mind, skinny dipping with Michelle Goodwin, seducing a rich guy by posing as an affluent lady (which was made into a hit Broadway musical), [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial and eating a train piece by piece after first derailing it with his penis]] (for charity). All the while, the lie detector is silent, indicating that he is telling nothing but the truth. [[spoiler:Eventually, the employers -- who are revealed to be the operators of a shoe store -- give him a job, and the applicant says that [[BlatantLies he loves shoes]]. BUZZZT!]] |
| 211 | * In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episodes "[[Recap/MurdochMysteriesS1E8StillWaters Still Waters]]" and "[[Recap/MurdochMysteriesS5E10InventionConvention Invention Convention]]", Murdoch has a device of his own invention called a pneumograph, which as the name suggests, measures the suspect's breathing. Instead of the lights, his machine has blue liquid that rises in a spiral-shaped tube. Despite not having any of the other measurements of a polygraph, it appears to be nearly infallible... providing Murdoch is asking the right questions. Murdoch himself is the subject when he first demonstrates it for his colleagues, a demonstration very much PlayedForLaughs. Of course, Dr. Ogden walks in, and the questions get very personal, and Murdoch is embarrassed by the accuracy of his own invention. Later episodes suggest that Murdoch is constantly working on improving it (because while it's always ''shown'' to be infallible, he keeps reminding us it isn't); in "A Study in Pink" it has a blood-pressure cuff, and the liquid tube has been replaced by dials, and by "The Ministry of Virtue", it has white and red lights for truth and lies. |
| 212 | * ''Series/MurphyBrown'': Murphy takes a buzzing lie detector test after she accuses a coworker of sexual harassment. Miles takes the opportunity to get Murphy to confess having switched his medical records with [[BobFromAccounting a guy from Accounting]] as a prank, causing the former to get an enema and the latter to get unnecessary stomach ulcer surgery. |
| 213 | * An episode of ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' has [[spoiler:Alex]] hooked up to a "FMRI" [[spoiler:(it looks a lot more like an ECG)]]. She is able to trick it through short and precise statements that are technically true. The problem is that avoiding a lie would cause a lot more activity in the brain than such short statements would produce normally. |
| 214 | * ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'': In "Truce or Consequences", Donatello invents a lie detector and uses it to see if Wick is serious about defecting. However, Wick is also gushing about Michaelanglo's radio show at the same time he says he wants to defect, so the lie detector reads his statement as true, causing the Turtles to walk into a trap. |
| 215 | * In ''Series/PanAm'', Kate has to pass a lie detector test [[spoiler:that she has to lie to in order to not incriminate herself regarding a man she shot]]. |
| 216 | * ''Series/TheParkers'' has a lie detector watch that zaps when the wearer tells a lie. |
| 217 | * ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' has an episode on polygraphs and their operators. Their case study, a private contractor, uses the machine as his Bad Cop in a GoodCopBadCop routine (despite not actually being a police officer or affiliate). |
| 218 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': |
| 219 | ** In "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E15 Booked Solid]]", Detective Carter is polygraphed for her application for the FBI, and worries that it will expose her association with Team Machine. Finch advises her to lie on an early question to skew the result. Carter "confesses" to having smoked marijuana in college, and the polygraph operator congratulates her on being the first one to answer that question honestly. |
| 220 | ** In "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E17 Proteus]]", Finch rigs up an improvised version with seismograph equipment, measuring the micro-tremors from the interviewees hands as they rest on the table. |
| 221 | * In the ''Series/{{Psych}}'' episode "[[Recap/PsychS06E01ShawnRescuesDarthVader Shawn Rescues Darth Vader]]", Lassiter uses one on Shawn with excuse that he's just testing whether the machine is working or not to figure out whether Shawn's secretly dating Juliet. The machine appears at first to be a typical hyper-accurate bit of HollywoodScience (registering an honest response when Shawn blurts out that he's in love with Juliet while hooked up to it), but promptly subverted when Lassiter follows up with the question [[PhonyPsychic "Are you psychic?"]]. Shawn lies and still passes the test. A flashback at the end of the episode reveals that learning how to beat a lie detector was one of the many skills Henry taught Shawn as a young boy (namely, trying to believe in the lie so that the polygraph registers an honest response). At the end of the episode, Lassiter invites Shawn into the interrogation room and hooks himself up to the machine. He then proceeds to tell Shawn that [[IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer if he ever hurts Juliet in any way, he will discharge his pistol]] -- ''repeatedly''. The result? Zero deception. |
| 222 | * In one episode of ''Series/{{Quintuplets}}'', Pearce and Parker try to make a lie detector in order to find out which of the two their mutual crush likes better. Unlike most detectors, when someone lies, the detector makes toast. Pearce is the one to put the thing together, and tests it out on himself. He sets it up and tells Parker to touch it. The detector gives Parker a (very painful) shock. Pearce tells Parker, "I had no idea that was going to happen." Toast pops out, leading Pearce to gleefully exclaim "It works!" |
| 223 | * The sheriffs in ''Series/Reno911'' frequently spend their downtime interrogating each other with the polygraph. Of course, the questions or responses invariably turn uncomfortably personal. |
| 224 | * ''Series/RoboCopTheSeries'': |
| 225 | ** [=RoboCop=] is a ''literal'' LivingLieDetector due to being a {{Cyborg}}, using "voice stress analysis" to make instant, near-infallible truth assessments. However, it's very plot-sensitive; Robo can easily use it to interrogate low-level criminals and witnesses, but the ''real'' bad guys always have ''some'' way to beat it. |
| 226 | ** A recurring nemesis is able to make the system give null responses because he's a stone-cold sociopath. |
| 227 | ** Once, he has to interrogate a career politician who just plain ''breaks'' the system; he's such a ConsummateLiar that every statement he makes registers exactly halfway between truth and falsehood. He's able to make the system give a null response to a claim that he's ''Abraham Lincoln.'' He walks out because a female acquaintance (not his wife) explains that they were together at the time of the crime; the machine works this time. |
| 228 | * In ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'', the employees of Rodbell's have to take a lie detector test. During the end credits, manager Leon is asked about Roseanne, and the machine explodes when he lies and says he thinks she's a good worker. |
| 229 | --> '''Polygraph Tester:''' Do you consider Roseanne a good worker?\ |
| 230 | '''Leon:''' Well... I... I guess... she has her--\ |
| 231 | '''Polygraph Tester:''' Yes, or no, Mr. Carp.\ |
| 232 | '''Leon:''' Well... okay, then... ''[nervous pause]'' Yes. ''[the polygraph explodes, sending sparks everywhere]'' ...I knew that was going to happen. |
| 233 | * The British sketch comedy series ''Series/TheRussAbbottShow'' had a sketch in which the police try to use a new kind of lie detector which notices the lies by testing the voice, and which the suspect doesn't have to be attached to. The interrogator ends up embarrassing himself when the machine buzzes at ''his'' lies ("I'm a very busy man!" "I am not a man to use violence!" "I can't be bought!"). |
| 234 | * ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'' has a police officer in one episode with a sneaky lie detector. He hands people a roughly pen shaped object, tells them it was found at the scene and asks if they have any idea what it could be. After they answer in the negative, he proceeds to ask regular questions. The device is actually a lie detector which he owns, and he is tricking them into holding it while being questioned. |
| 235 | * In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry takes a surprisingly realistic lie detector test to try to prove that he doesn't watch ''Series/MelrosePlace''. Instead of being asked directly, he's just asked to give his details before being asked a string of questions about events from ''Melrose Place'' ("Did Kimberley steal Jo's baby?", "Did Billy sleep with Allison's best friend?", etc.). Instead of lights or buzzers or wildly jagged needles, the needles just jiggle a little when he answers, but not in any significant way. In the end he breaks down under the pressure of endless ''Melrose Place'' trivia and confesses, and we never find out whether he was beating the machine or not. |
| 236 | * An episode of ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' has the heroes find themselves in a world where [[OppressiveStatesOFAmerica the US is under a martial law]], the Constitution has been banned, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking all cops wear skirts]]. When Rembrandt goes to the police to trade the last known electronic copy of the Constitution for the freedom of a judge (one of the last "Constitutionalists"), the chief asks if he's willing to take a lie detector test to prove that they haven't made any copies of the disk. Rembrandt agrees, although the actual test is not shown. At the end of the episode, a copy of the document is emailed to everyone. |
| 237 | * In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E05Committed Committed]]", a psycho named Macy kidnaps couples and hooks them up to these, then questions them about their love lives and fidelity. For each lie, the other person gets electrocuted. When Macy mistakes Lois and Clark for a couple and kidnaps them (thanks to kryptonite), Lois answers "Yes" when she's asked if she loves Clark, which registers as the truth much to Clark's shock as the pair couldn't stand each other at this time. Later, after they are freed, Lois [[BlatantLies claims that she slipped the sensor off her when she gave her answer]]. |
| 238 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': |
| 239 | ** A strange alien lie-detector appears on several episodes, which is somehow capable not only of discerning when the person is telling a lie, but also when they're lying ''even if their conscious mind thinks they're telling the truth''. However, the Za'tarc detector only detects concealment, not the subject being concealed. This distinction becomes important when Jack and Sam come under suspicion because they trigger the Za'tarc detector. It's not because they've been compromised, but because they're trying to conceal that they care about each other "way more than they should". The operating principle of the Za'tarc detector assumes that (as was once widely believed in real life, but now has fairly little support) the human mind secretly keeps an accurate "recording" of everything it experiences, and therefore even an unknowing lie (and even, one supposes, an honest mistake) can be detected by comparing what is said to the infallible mental record. The device is related to the MentalPictureProjector technology sometimes seen in the series. |
| 240 | ** Also, the comedic take is subverted in an early season 10 episode with an ordinary lie detector, while the tester is tortured: |
| 241 | --->'''Tester:''' By the way, I must say you're looking excellent today.\ |
| 242 | '''Vala:''' Thanks, you look excellent yourself... ''[needle ticks rapidly]'' I mean, very nice... ''[needle ticks rapidly]'' That is, not objectionable... ''[needle ticks rapidly]'' |
| 243 | * In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', the ''Enterprise'''s computer has a lie detector function, seen in a few episodes. |
| 244 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E6MuddsWomen Mudd's Women]]", it states that Mudd's responses are "INCORRECT" when he gives a false name, claims he has no criminal record, and states that he is licensed to operate a spaceship. It's possible that the computer identified Mudd's face and then compared his statements to records, as it immediately provides the true answers. |
| 245 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E14WolfInTheFold Wolf in the Fold]]", it gives the response ''SUBJECT IS RELAYING ACCURATE ACCOUNT'' when questioning serial killer suspects. |
| 246 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E7ExPostFacto Ex Post Facto]]", Tuvok uses an Autonomic Response Analysis to interrogate Tom Paris. It shows that he's telling the truth about not committing the murder he's accused of, which turns out to be a FrameUp. However, in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E26S3E1Basics Basics, Part One]]", Chakotay requests that the Doctor do an ARA to see if an alien prisoner is lying. The Doctor points out that they don't have enough baseline information on that species to give an accurate result. |
| 247 | * An episode of ''Series/TekWar'' has a hardline investigation unit use a combination lie detector/shock collar -- {{Hand Wave}}d as a neural interface which detects "[[{{Technobabble}} cognitive dissonance]]" instead of just reading biorythyms, and turns said dissonance into ''[[AgonyBeam direct stimulation of the pain center]]''. It's used once on a known criminal, who gives truthful information after realizing that his training (TruthInTelevision) can't beat the device. However, the designers never accounted for someone absolutely determined to defy the device; it's later used on a hotel maid who they suspect is concealing evidence. TheMobBossIsScarier, [[CopHater she hates the cops]], so she denies knowledge despite increasing levels of pain until it renders her comatose. |
| 248 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKgmScYcK6g This]] old Johnny Carson skit from ''Series/TheTonightShow'' involves a politician who agrees to be hooked up to one of these at a press conference, with the expected hilarity ensuing. |
| 249 | -->'''Politician:''' I feel my opponent is a decent man. ''[BUZZ!]'' He's an okay man. ''[BUZZ!]'' He's a man. ''[BUZZ!]'' He's bisexual. |
| 250 | * In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E5Adam Adam]]", Jack uses the "best lie detector on the planet" (complete with green/red light) on Ianto, who has had FakeMemories implanted. Since Ianto is convinced that he's murdered three girls, no lie is detected ... but Jack still knows that he's innocent. |
| 251 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E24ToServeMan To Serve Man]]", the aliens' representative agrees to a polygraph test, after a few test questions suggest it works on him (i.e., "How did you come to this planet?" "I walked.") the alien claims that their intentions on Earth are solely to help humanity, and the polygraph reads it as truth. However, he never says [[ToServeMan why]] they want to [[IAmAHumanitarian help]] [[PeopleFarms humanity]]. |
| 252 | * Used in ''Series/TheUnusuals'' against a serial killer of cats. It appears to be a Lexmark or Canon inkjet printer with the lid over the scan plate removed. |
| 253 | * ''Series/WhiteCollar'': |
| 254 | ** In season 2, episode 6, Neal confounds a polygraph by pressing a tack into his finger during sensitive questions. |
| 255 | ** Later, in season 3 episode 1, a polygraph is used on Neal, who tells the truth, but his questioner is still not convinced. |
| 256 | * ''Series/TheWire'': |
| 257 | ** In season four, when Greggs is investigating the death of a witness, she interrogates the man that was going to be testified against. After the test, the polygraph tech says that the results are inconclusive, but heavily insinuates that he'll sign on either way if the police want. |
| 258 | --->'''Kima:''' No wonder this shit's inadmissible. |
| 259 | ** The fifth season premiere opens with Bunk Moreland and a bunch of other detectives repeating the photocopier trick from ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' mentioned above, which trips up a suspect after the detectives convince him that his accomplice has flipped on him by having said accomplice led past the interrogation room with [=McDonald's=] food they purchased just for him. |
| 260 | * In ''Series/{{Wiseguy}}'', Frank [=McPike=] says that he ExperimentedInCollege with marijuana. When Vinnie asks how he passed the polygraph when applying for the FBI, Frank says he didn't consider himself a user. |
| 261 | * One episode of ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' features a gadget called the "liar card" which acts like a phone version of a polygraph, telling you if the person you're talking to is lying. Of course, it also gives you the ability to lie to the other person with a fake phone number and/or a fake voice (which sounds like the classic "ransom demand" voice, for whatever reason); several commentators point out how morally gray this is. |
| 262 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'': The episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS01E03Squeeze Squeeze]]" uses a lie detector test to good effect, as the killer manages to fake his way out of the test quite effectively -- except for two questions Mulder inserted implying the truth about his identity (that he was over one hundred years old and a human liver-eating mutant) that he most definitely was not expecting, which pinpoint the fact that he is lying. Of course, the other agents aren't willing to accept that he's one hundred years old and let him go anyway. As the other agent points out, any innocent man would likely have had some kind of reaction to that question. Mulder might have had a better result if he'd asked Tooms about the victims he killed decades ago, using their names but giving no other details. |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Magazines]] |
| 266 | * There's a short adventure from an early ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' magazine in which an elf suspected of murder steals a magical lie-detecting sword and flees before it can be used in his trial. [[spoiler:He's innocent, but knew that the sword also detected ''elves'', and was afraid its use to test his statements would ensure his wrongful conviction.]] |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
| 268 | |
| 269 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 270 | * In 2003, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon suspected that [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown Mr. America]] was Wrestling/HulkHogan in disguise (he was) and forced him to take a lie detector test. Mr. American passed when he said he wasn't Hogan. Angry, Vince took the test to prove it was rigged, only for the machine to buzz when he said things like he wasn't an asshole, wasn't a pervert, etc. |
| 271 | [[/folder]] |
| 272 | |
| 273 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 274 | %%* A boxed ("board") game with versions called "Spy Detector" and "Lie Detector" includes a plastic machine that can indicate whether "witnesses" are telling the truth or lying about identifying characteristics of the spy or criminal based on holes punched in the "witness" cards and corresponding holes punched in cards placed in the machine.%%This example has been commented out for not identifying the work from which it originates. Do not uncomment it without adding the work. |
| 275 | * ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': Subverted in ''[[TabletopGame/GURPSHighTech High-Tech]]''. Even if the polygraph works as advertised (by default, it doesn't), the machine still doesn't detect lies -- the interrogator is the one doing that. By ''[[TabletopGame/GurpsUltraTech Ultra-Tech]]'', lie detectors that operate on micro-expressions and brainwaves have been perfected. |
| 276 | * The core rulebook for the "XP" version of ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' includes a picture of an Alpha Complex citizen strapped into one of these. He's grinning and giving a thumb's-up while behind him, an enormous video screen blares the word LIE. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | |
| 279 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 280 | * The Kanohi Rode, Mask of Truth, in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' essentially does this: it can see through any deception or illusion, but as far as lies go, it seems that it can only tell if the potential liar truly believes what he is saying or not. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 284 | * The Magatama in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series sort of works like this. Whenever Phoenix Wright encounters a person who is either lying or is hiding a secret, the Magatama shows chains and locks over the person in question. The more locks there are, the harder it is to crack the person into spilling the beans. In one notable case from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'', [[spoiler:this system is fooled by Phoenix's own client, who actually ''is'' the killer [[GoodLawyersGoodClients for once]]. He had the victim taken out by a hired killer, so when asked "Did you kill him?", he just says "No". The Magatama normally sees through ExactWords of that sort by detecting the associated guilt, but it's implied that he's TheSociopath to the point that he doesn't ''have'' any guilt over it]]. |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/ClueSweeper'': You can buy one of these so that red herrings cost an additional penalty of one time unit instead of an additional penalty of three time units without a lie detector when found. |
| 286 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', a lie detector can be unlocked as a career reward item for the criminal track, although in this case, the use for it is not to tell when someone is lying, but to increase a Sim's creativity skill by learning how to lie without setting it off (it will give the Sim an electrical shock if they fail). |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 290 | * In ''Webcomic/ElectricWonderland'', Aerynn casts a spell that causes one's pants to [[KillItWithFire light on fire]] if they tell any lies. |
| 291 | * ''Webcomic/NSFWComix'' has [[http://nsfw-comix.com/nsfw336.htm an Independence Day comic]] in which two fast food workers are interviewed by the secret service about the "secret ingredient" they added to [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama President Obama]]'s burger using a typical Hollywood Lie Detector. |
| 292 | [[/folder]] |
| 293 | |
| 294 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 295 | * In ''Literature/EnterTheFarside'', Grandmaster can have his helmet customised to include one of these. It can also pick on responses and relay back their tells and ticks. In [[https://enterthefarside.wordpress.com/category/arc-2-beginnings/2-3/ Beginnings 2-3]], Shaun believes Artifex used one of these on him. |
| 296 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2128 SCP-2128]] is a stone furnace used as a torture device by a medieval cult. Whenever someone in the oven tells a lie, the SCP [[KillItWithFire incinerates]] them. This happens even for things the person doesn't know the truth of, and it has ways of avoiding [[LogicBomb paradoxes]]. [[spoiler:It's sentient, loves to eat human flesh, and isn't above roasting a truthful person.]] |
| 297 | * In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', [[GadgeteerGenius Armsmaster]] creates a lie detector that actually works. It's later used by Legend as well. |
| 298 | [[/folder]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 301 | * One episode of the ''Website/CollegeHumor'' game show ''Game Changer'' features a "lie detector" that shows a green light when a contestant tells the truth and a red light when a contestant lies. The questions start with easily-checkable queries like "What is your name?" and become increasingly personal, and, to the mounting astonishment of the contestants, the device correctly evaluates every answer despite there being no apparent way it could possibly work. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the device is being operated remotely by the contestants' significant others hiding backstage]]. |
| 302 | * In the ''WebVideo/Lonelygirl15'' episode "Man in the Suit", Bree tries out a "home-made lie-detector", i.e. a piece of paper and a pen, on Daniel. He has to draw a straight line on the paper while answering a question; supposedly, if the line wobbles, he's lying. In which case he is, or has in the past been, a member of a terrorist organisation, and he intends to eat P. Monkey, Thor and Owen if he runs out of food. |
| 303 | [[/folder]] |
| 304 | |
| 305 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 306 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': Batman gets hooked up to one in one episode. If he lies, though, Detective Ellen Yin gets shocked. The Riddler does this to play a Twenty Questions game with Batman where he uses Batman's answers to deduce his identity. When Batman lures Riddler into a position where ''he'' feels the shock, Batman answers "Yes" to Riddler's question about Batman being a cop. |
| 307 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' are forced to take a lie detector test after being suspected of taking money from the Burger World cash register. Before they take the test, Butt-Head tells Beavis that they can trick the lie detector by holding their breath. When Butt-Head steps up, the lie detector buzzes when he claims that he understands how the lie detector works but dings when he gets the number of fingers the man holds up wrong; when asked if he ever stole anything in his life, he passes out before he can answer. When it's Beavis's turn, he successfully convinces them that he's a serial killer from the 1960s without even holding his breath. |
| 308 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'': The first episode has Ma building one and having her family tested so she can find out who kidnapped her husband. |
| 309 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheDickTracyShow'': Hemlock Homes uses a lie detector (in the episode of the same name) on Stooge Viller and Mumbles. Not only does it tell when a lie is told, it [[SoapPunishment washes a culprit's mouth out with soap]] if a flat-out whopper is told. |
| 310 | * ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' strap Jonny 2x4 to one of these in the PilotEpisode when they suspect him of stealing possessions from the children of the cul-de-sac. |
| 311 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS2E4InspectionDetection Inspection Detection]]", Timmy's parents suspect him of stealing, so he whips out a lie detector to prove his innocence. Unfortunately, it ends up working against him when Mr. Turner asks where he got the detector and Timmy, [[RunningGag out of habit]], says "Internet". |
| 312 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E3AHeadInThePolls A Head in the Polls]]", Nixon's head is put under a "truth-o-scope" during the presidential debate. Cue flop sweat when he's asked whether he'd take candy from a small child. |
| 313 | -->'''Nixon's Head:''' Uhh... well, the question is vague. You don't say what kind of candy, or... whether anyone is watching... In any case, I certainly wouldn't harm the child. ''[truth-o-scope goes nuts]'' |
| 314 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The ChildProdigy Lisa once develops lie detector technology and sets up lie detectors all over the house, forcing the entire family to be truthful at all times. Eventually, Lisa comes to realize that sometimes a little lying is okay. |
| 315 | * ''WesternAnimation/PacificHeat'': One episode has a witness being subjected to a voice stress test, with Kwong measuring her vocal stress via sensors and determining whether or not the witness is lying. Of course, the sensors also track the voices of the Pacific Heat agents, and Kwong has fun announcing when they're lying. |
| 316 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': Every time the girls tell a lie in "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS5EP10LyingAroundTheHouseBubbleBoy Lying Around the House]]", a mysterious little figure starts to grow until it becomes unmanageably monstrous. The girls can only defeat it by renouncing their lies and telling the truth. First implemented in issue #21 of [[ComicBook/ThePowerpuffGirls the comic book]] ("Big Fish Story", Creator/DCComics run), in which the little fish the Professor catches grows with the girls' lies as it is manipulated by Him. |
| 317 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E9TheABCsOfBeth The ABCs of Beth]]", one item that Rick invented for Beth in her youth was a doll that very blatantly had a lie detector built in. |
| 318 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 319 | ** Parodied in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]" when Moe was interrogated by the local police force and hooked up to a lie detector, which loudly exposes his attempts to mask his rather pathetic home life. |
| 320 | --->'''Tester:''' It checks out. Okay, sir, you're free to go.\ |
| 321 | '''Moe:''' Good, 'cause I got a hot date tonight. ''[buzz]'' A date. ''[buzz]'' Dinner with friends. ''[buzz]'' Dinner alone. ''[buzz]'' Watching TV alone. ''[buzz]'' Alright! I'm gonna sit at home and ogle the ladies in the Victoria's Secret catalog. ''[buzz]'' ... Sears catalog. ''[ding]'' Now would you unhook this already please? I don't deserve this kind of shabby treatment! ''[buzz]'' |
| 322 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E10TheSpringfieldFiles The Springfield Files]]", a FakeCrossover with ''Series/TheXFiles'', has Agent Scully hook Homer up to a lie detector and explain how it works. When she asks him if he understands what she's told him, [[EpicFail Homer says yes and the machine]] [[ReadingsBlewUpTheScale explodes]]. |
| 323 | ** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E22PoppasGotABrandNewBadge Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge]]", Bart tries out a lie detector, saying "Lisa is a dork!" over and over. Naturally, Lisa doesn't like that, but when Homer looks at the sheet, he says "According to this, he's telling the truth." |
| 324 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E7AsSeenOnTVCanYouSpareADime Can You Spare a Dime?]]", Mr. Krabs becomes paranoid that Squidward stole the first dime the former ever made, and isn't very subtle about it: |
| 325 | -->'''Squidward:''' What are you saying?\ |
| 326 | '''Mr. Krabs:''' Me? I ain't saying nothing that would matter to anyone who would be willing to take ''a lie detector test!'' |
| 327 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeLittlePigs'': The 1939 short "The Practical Pig" features a lie detector, which notably [[HoistByHisOwnPetard goes off on Practical]] when, while punishing his brothers, he proclaims "This hurts me more than it hurts you!" |
| 328 | [[/folder]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 331 | * Various people with U.S. security clearance have taken polygraph tests and passed, despite being foreign spies. From 1945 to the present, at least six Americans had been committing espionage while they successfully passed polygraph tests. Two of the most notable cases of two men who created a false negative result with the polygraphs were Larry Wu-Tai Chin and Aldrich Ames. Ames was given two polygraph examinations while with the CIA, the first in 1986 and the second in 1991. The CIA reported that he passed both examinations after experiencing initial indications of deception. |
| 332 | ** The NAS report that led to the downfall of the device's widespread use pointed out that they said this about ''pretty much everyone'' that they ever "passed". |
| 333 | ** For true crime fans, there's [[https://checkmylists.com/society/criminals-who-passed-polygraph/amp/ a list]] of ten high-profile criminals who all passed their polygraphs, which includes Larry Wu-Tai Chin and Aldrich Ames as mentioned above, plus serial killers like Gary Ridgway and Ted Bundy. |
| 334 | * Magnetic resonance imaging scans can pinpoint which parts of a person's brain become more active when they engage in particular types of thinking, and making up a lie on the spot causes different areas to "light up" than relating things from one's memory. Note that this is only true of lies being invented at the time the test is being administered; a long-term deception still in progress, or a lie that's been thoroughly planned out in advance, may produce a similar pattern of activity to a genuine recalled memory. |
| 335 | * In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton called up KMOX in St. Louis (1120 AM) and said on-air, "After I get off the phone with you, Rush Limbaugh will come on and have three hours to say whatever he wants and I won't be able to defend myself. There's no truth detector." Limbaugh came on shortly after and said, "We don't need a truth detector. I ''am'' the truth detector." |
| 336 | * After Susan Smith claimed her children had been kidnapped by a carjacker, she and her estranged husband David were submitted to this almost immediately. David passed with flying colors and was never tested again, while the results of Susan's exam were inconclusive and she was tested every time she was interrogated. She repeatedly failed the question, "Do you know where your children are?" After nine days of this, she finally broke down and admitted that she had killed her children. |
| 337 | * One actual, generally practical application of polygraphs is using them as an interrogation tactic to provoke confessions out of suspects, such as with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_family_murders the case of Christopher Watts]]. In this methodology, the polygraph test isn't necessarily meant to get a damning lie out of them, but rather to intimidate the suspect into a vulnerable state using the information [[EverybodyKnewAlready which enforcement already has]], with their inevitable failure setting the grounds for them to admit to their crimes. In a way, this actually makes the belief that lie detectors are more reliable than they actually are [[ExploitedTrope the suspect's own worst enemy.]] |
| 338 | [[/folder]] |
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