A polygraph, popularly known as a lie detector, measures and records various physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration and conductivity of the skin while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions. The belief behind polygraph use is that misleading responses will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive responses.
The polygraph was invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson, a medical student at the University of California, Berkeley and a police officer at the Berkeley Police Department in Berkeley, California. The polygraph was listed in the Encyclopædia Britannica's list of greatest inventions, described as inventions that "have had profound effects on human life for better or for worse."
The effectiveness of polygraphs is discussed in the scientific community. In 1991, two thirds of the scientific community who have the necessary background to evaluate polygraphic procedures consider polygraphy to be pseudoscience. In 2002, a review by the National Research Council found that, in populations "without training in countermeasures, polygraph tests of specific incidents can discriminate lying from counting the truth at rates well above chance, though well below perfection". The review also warns against generalizing these findings to justify the use of polygraphs - "the accuracy of the polygraph for screening purposes is almost certainly less than can be achieved by polygraph testing with specific incidence in the field" - and points out That some examinees may be able to take countermeasures to produce misleading results.
In some countries, polygraphs are used as an interrogation tool with criminal suspects or candidates for sensitive employment in the public or private sector. Law enforcement agencies in the United States and the federal government such as the FBI, the NSA and the CIA and many police departments like the LAPD use polygraph exams to interrogate suspects and select new employees. Within the federal government of the United States, a polygraph exam is also known as a psychophysiological screening test (PDD).