Lie Detection: Still Searching for the Truth

Reviews the book, The Complete Polygraph Handbook by Stan Abrams (see record 1989-97606-000). This broad and authoritative handbook offers an exceptionally complete presentation on how to administer and evaluate polygraph tests. It also describes--in depth--the most current developments and schools of thought in the field. The text contains many inaccuracies, including improper citations, misspelled names, and misrepresentations of data from published studies. The tables are almost uninterpretable. The strength of this book lies in the author's presentation of the practice of polygraphy. The reader is provided with a comprehensive introduction to polygraph methods, including how tests are conducted, questions are formulated, and psychophysiological data are scored. In conclusion, although Abrams never states his purpose in creating this book, his goal appears to have been to help foster and sustain the polygraph industry by generating a text that might be adopted by polygraph school training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)