Alternate Technologies for the Detection of Deception
This chapter has reviewed a variety of technologies and techniques for detecting deception. Some of these techniques, such as voice stress analysis and pupillometry, have been used for a long time, while others such as thermal imaging, event-related brain potential (ERP), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are still fairly young. The analysis strategies that support these technologies are also burgeoning. Thermal imaging shows potential, with preliminary research findings suggesting high rates of accuracy in detecting deception. Pupillometry, more often studied than thermal imaging, has demonstrated an ability to detect deception. However, factors other than deception have been shown to affect pupil diameter, a fact which may cloud findings of deception-related pupillometry examinations. In the current sociopolitical climate with terrorism an ongoing global threat, the further development and study of reliable instruments to detect deception is of growing importance.
