Lie Detection

Over the past 60 years, the mystique of the polygraph, or lie detector machine, has caused far too many people to be hoodwinked into blind acceptance of this device. Foisted on the public by its developers and their disciples as an infallible arbiter of truth, this machine is cloaked in a mantle of pseudo-science. However, despite its reputation, scientific evidence indicates that the polygraph is about as accurate as tossing a coin. In this clear, lively, and interesting book, David Lykken explains why our press and government nevertheless continue to believe in what the late Senator Sam Ervin, of Watergate fame, described as "20th Century witchcraft".

Lest anyone be lulled into complacency, by the prevalence of the lie detector, the author presents case histories of persons whose lives have been blighted by our uniquely American faith in the myth of the polygraph. Dr. Lykken also explains how to "beat" the machine, not only because it is unfair that spies and Mafia soldiers already know these techniques, but also because innocent persons have a nearly 50:50 chance of failing lie detector tests unless they use appropriate countermeasures.

With the demise of the polygraph following the passage of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, honesty testing has come to be seen as an alternative approach. But it has become the subject of considerable controversy, some legal enactments, a barrage of union opposition, and a great deal of employer interest. Miner and Capps provide an understanding and the tools necessary to help human resource managers make decisions regarding the use of honesty testing. Generic types of testing instruments are assessed; the writing is straightforward, with all statistical and mathematical concepts presented with sufficient detailed explanation for those without technical training.

Who lies? Not just children, politicians, advertisers, and salespeople. Our co-workers lie. Our friends lie. Our relatives lie. And we lie to them. Everybody lies.

We learn to lie and to detect deceit as a developmental task. Dr. Ford's concept is that lying is part of the bridge between one's internal world (beliefs, perceptions, expectations, fantasies) and one's external world (reality). Lies work not only to deceive others but to deceive ourselves.

This book shines a spotlight on an understudied phenomenon that affects us all as we raise children, choose a relationship, move forward with a career path, or buy a used car.

This highly readable and comprehensive overview of psychophysiology provides information regarding the anatomy and physiology of various body systems, methods of recording their activity, and ways in which these measures relate to human behavior. Biofeedback applications are contained in a separate chapter and discussions of stress management, job strain, and personality factors that affect cardiovascular reactivity are presented. There is much of interest here to the student, researcher, and clinician in behavioral medicine, ergonomics, emotion, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, and health psychology. Now in its fourth edition, Andreassi's Psychophysiology explores some of the newer areas of importance and updates findings in traditional topics of interest. Significant changes to this edition include: *updated information on brain activity in memory, perception, and intelligence; *new information on brain imaging and behavior; *separate chapters on pupillography and eye movements; *new information on the startle pattern and eyeblink; *separate chapters on clinical and non-clinical applications; *updated information on cardiovascular reactivity and personality; *the latest biofeedback and ergonomics applications; *novel findings in environmental psychophysiology; *brief summaries at the end of each section; and *an appendix on laboratory safety Each chapter is a self-contained unit allowing instructors to customize the presentation of the material. With over 1,700 citations, Andreassi's Psychophysiology is the definitive text in the field. An instructor's manual is now available. Based on the book, the manual is primarily a test bank to be used in giving examinations to students during the teaching of a course. Both multiple-choice and essay questions have been provided, along with lists of key terms and ideas. These can be used for definition-type questions and to highlight important concepts, as well as alerting the instructor to important terms and ideas that they may want to cover in lectures. Sample syllabi are provided for teaching a course at both undergraduate and graduate levels to help the instructor who is preparing a course for the first time. A number of possible laboratory exercises are also provided that can be carried out in conjunction with teaching the course.

This work presents a thorough overview of preemployment honesty tests and the alternatives available to polygraph examinations. Jones offers a summary of guidelines to be used for honesty testing programs in business, covering such topics as theft, drug use, violence, and accidents. The book's four major sections detail the 40-year history of honesty testing, including research showing that the use of honesty tests yields a meaningful return-on-investment; the state-of-the-art in research and testing; future directions in preemployment testing; and practical information for companies seeking to implement integrity testing.

For those who teach students in psychology, education, and the social sciences, the Handbook of Demonstrations and Activities in the Teaching of Psychology, Second Edition provides practical applications and rich sources of ideas. Revised to include a wealth of new material (56% of the articles are new), these invaluable reference books contain the collective experience of teachers who have successfully dealt with students' difficulty in mastering important concepts about human behavior. Each volume features a table that lists the articles and identifies the primary and secondary courses in which readers can use each demonstration. Additionally, the subject index facilitates retrieval of articles according to topical headings, and the appendix notes the source as it originally appeared in Teaching of Psychology--especially useful for users needing to cite information. The official journal of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Division Two of the American Psychological Association, Teaching of Psychology is a highly respected publication devoted to improving teaching and learning at all educational levels. Volume III consists of 95 articles about teaching personality, abnormal, clinical-counseling, and social psychology. Divided into four sections (one for each specialty), the book suggests ways to work with case studies, advocate a research perspective, use the arts and literature as teaching tools, and otherwise facilitate understanding of theoretical concepts.