POLYGRAPHS: 'WITCHCRAFT' OR 'EFFECTIVE TOOL'?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210029-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: June 28, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210029-2
ARTICLE S.* D
ON PAGE A . o,(s
WASHINGTON POST
28 June 1985
Polygraphs: `witchcraft'
Or `Effective Tool'?
Spy Case Refuels Debate Over Zits' I&Jidity-
By Ruth Marcus
T- -rriesnse,...
To its detractors, such as the late
Sen. Sam Ervin. the he detector
smacks of "20th century witch-
craEt." To its supporters, such as
William Rota ish, director o secu
city for the CLA, the polygraph is
"the aio~e mat effective tool a ' -
able~ tofeerret out spies.
The poygraph's to deter-
mine an individual's veracity by mea-
suring changes in pulse, blood pres-
sure and perspiration has been a
matter of controversy almost since
the forerunner of the modern device
was invented about 60 years ago.
But with the arrest of four Navy
men on espionage charges, the is-
sue of rising be detectors to uncov-
er spies and potential spies has
come to the forefront of debate
about what should be done to stela
the loss of defense secrets.
The House of Representatives
voted oveewbelymingly Wednesday
to grant the Pentagon brood power
Io subject to be detector tests more
than 4 million military and civilian
employes cleared to we classified
information. Under the measure,
passed 333 to 71 as an amendment
to the Defense Department author-
isation bill, polygraphs would be re-
quired of those seeking clearance to
see the most sensitive information.
A similar measure, backed by
Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-
Kan.), is pending in the Senate.
Polygraph proponents applauded
the House vote. If a person is a spy,
and if he's being asked on the poly-
graph, 'Have you ever spied?' he's go-
ing to react to it on the polygraph,
and the chances of his being detected
are very good," said Gordon Barland,
'a Utah polygraph expert.
According to the American Poly-
graph Association, the test is accu-
rate more than 90 percent of the
time in canes where trained exam-
am are able to reach a conclusion
about a person's truthfulness.
Bgcltera of polygraphs also main-
tain that the threat of being sub-
jected to a test would deter workers
who might otherwise be tempted to
spy. The author of the House
amendment, Rep. C.W. Bill Young
(R-Fla.), cited testimony last month
by convicted Soviet spy Chrisopher
Boyce. who told a Senate commit-
tee that if he had thought he might
be required to take a polygraph
test, "I would never have consid-
ered an act of espionage."
But critics of lie detector tests de-
scribe the devices as unreliable in
general and particularly unsuitable in
screening rather than in investiga-
ting specific crimes or incidents. In-
creased use of the tests for deter-
mining clearances, they warn, would
finger innocent people as security
risks while failing to unmask real
spies trained to outwit the tests.
"The polygraph can detect lies just
as well as Laetrile can cure cancer,"
said Dr. John F. Beary III, associate
dean at the Georgetown University
School of Medicine and former prin-
cipal deputy assistant secretary of
defense for health affairs. "The sol-
dier or sailor now has his career de-
termined by a device with the accu-
racy of a roulette wheel."
Beary cited a 1983 study by the
congressional Office of Technology
Assessment that concluded, "While
there is some evidence for the val-
idity of polygraph testing as an ad-
junct to criminal investigations,
there is very little research or sci-
entific evidence to establish poly-
graph test* validity in screening sit-
uations. TAe' scientific evidence is
clear-that a polygraph test cannot
reliably and in any valid way deter-
mine whether somebody is lying."
I'm as concerned as any other
citizen about spies and preventing
people in the armed forces from
selling information to foreign gov-
ernments, but the polygraph is not
a device that is going to enable us
to determine who's doing these
things," said the author of the- re-
port, Boston University psychology
professor Leonard Saxe.
A principal concern among critics
of be detector tests is the threat of
"false positive" readings-finding de-
ception by a person who actually is
telling the truth-that would brand
honest employes as security risks.
'ruthful people are going to be
victimized," said David Lykken, a
polygraph expert at the University of
Minnesota. He said studies show that
innocent people have a 40 to 50 per-
cent chance of being classified as de-
ceptive. "A lot of innocent people,
and especially conscientious people
who are not accustomed to having
their word questioned are going to
fail a polygraph test," he said.
"Certainly false positives can oc-
cur," said Frank Horvath, director
of the American Polygraph Asso-
ciation Research Center at Mich-
igan State University. However, he
said, such results "do not present a
serious problem (because] most
employers do not make a decision
solely on the basis of a polygraph
test outcome. They use that to cor-
relate with other information about
an applicant."
Critics also warn that actual spies
trained to outsmart polygraphs
might evade detection. Subjects can
throw examiners off the track of
their lies by biting their tongues or
stepping on a tack hidden in their
shoes when answering "control"
questions, critics said.
It can be beaten and the KGB
knows how to beat the polygraph,'
Lykken said. "When the exmainers
say you can easily detect [evasive
measures] from the charts they are
thinking about uninformed criminal
suspects who don't know how to do it
and try to beat the test on the spur
of the moment by coughing or
squirming."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210029-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210029-2
Z.
But Lynn P. Marcy, chairman of
the American Polygraph Associa-
tion and a former Air Force secu-
rity investigator, said that examin-
ers were able to discern even more
sophisticated attempts to fool them.
'o a skilled polygraph examiner,
the type of reaction that occurs
from pain is entirely different than
the typical type of reaction cause by
fear of detection or the stress of
telling a lie," he said. "We have de-
veloped anti-countermeasure tech-
niques to help us sort out those
kinds of attempts."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210029-2