We've seen them on TV, most notably on daytime shows like Maury, catching cheaters and making for over-dramatic television. But if lie detectors are so good? Why aren't they used in actual criminal cases?

In this episode, we'll talk about the invention of the lie detector test, how it works and even how to pass a lie detector test.

I'm your host, Emily Prokop, and this is The Story Behind the Polygraph.

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Special thanks to Jim Collison from Home Gadget Geeks at TheAverageGuy.TV, who played my polygraph tester in this episode.

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Media:

Music for Makers

Sources:

http://www.kidzone.ws/science/polygraph/historyofthepolygraphmachine.htm

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22467640

http://americacomesalive.com/2014/11/08/invention-polygraph/

http://www.engineersgarage.com/invention-stories/lie-detector-history

http://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph.aspx

https://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31737

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/defendants-rights/lie-detector-test.htm#

http://www.livescience.com/33512-pass-lie-detector-polygraph.html

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/27/359078315/the-man-behind-wonder-woman-was-inspired-by-both-suffragists-and-centerfolds

http://home.total.net/~galcar/html/brief_history_of_the_polygraph.html

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=polygraph

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/04/the-polygraph-has-been-lying-for-90-years.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/will-lie-detectors-ever-get-their-day-in-court-again-

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LieDetector

https://books.google.com/books?id=QI0S4XhXJ9wC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=Tony+Grignano+and+Cecil+Loniello&source=bl&ots=6LQ7Kd1bLN&sig=744rNkcgzT-VU1V4udK5qMO5D38&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQoeGuoODQAhUB1mMKHXF7CrAQ6AEIVjAM#v=onepage&q=Tony%20Grignano%20and%20Cecil%20Loniello&f=false