Abstract
This literature review argues that while the polygraph as technology has matured, the public myth of a “lie detector” has remained strikingly static. Drawing on Thomas’s theorem, Berger and Luckmann’s social construction of reality, and linguistic relativism, I theorize the myth as a security filtering function: a socially sustained belief that organizes institutional practice, elicits compliance, and sorts risk in ways consequential for national security. Historically informed and conceptually driven, the review synthesizes early psychophysiological research, legal gatekeeping (e.g., Frye), methodological debates over the Comparison/Control Question Test (CQT) versus Concealed Information Test (CIT), government and intelligence community memoranda, scientific critiques, and public opinion studies. The conclusion advances a prediction: so long as the label “lie detector” anchors collective meaning, the polygraph will continue to function less as a detector of lies than as an instrument that makes consequences real by filtering people, shaping confessions, and deterring transgression.
Notes
This is an updated version of the article titled “Evolving Under the Cover of Myth: Polygraph Maturation and a Static Myth of Lie Detection” (Space-Coyote, 2021).