Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Racial and Confirmation Bias in Lie Detection

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

With the late 20th century expansion of the "law and order" state, use of avowedly objective, scientific forensic evidence skyrocketed in public programs, policies and institutions. U.S. criminal justice, immigration, and national secuirty systems now routinely use "lie detectors" to inform criminal, administrative, and employment investigations. Yet there is widespread scientific evidence that there is no technology capable of detecting deception, as there is indeed not evidence of a "deception response" to detect. Thus, numberous widespread forensic procedures lack scientific basis. Ironically, scientific evidence abounds demonstrating the potential of cognitive biases to affect the interpretation of forensic data. These biases can include demographic information. This research aims to advance knowledge and understanding of validity problems in forensics in dialogue with diverse literatures in political and social psychology, bias and equity in policing, policy and law. The puzzle is how different kinds of mental shortcuts interact in polygraph chart interpretation under various conditions. This investigation is provoked by the clear and pressing need for more rigorous science in the U.S. criminal justice and national security systems. There is a severe paucity of academic research in any discipline on bias in forensics in general and polygraphs in particular. This is an important political science project, because unscientific forensics appears legitimate. This study uses a mixed methods framework combining experimental, survey and field observations. The experimental element of this project aims to isolate causal mechanisms of potential bias by recruiting a large nationwide sample of law enforcement professionals. Data from this research will be made available online post-publication. The proposed research will be presented at academic and law enforcement conferences. Findings from the project will quantify bias, determine the conditions under which bias arises, and contribute to the development of lie detector best practices.