In empirical research in which a panel of experts evaluated polygraph data,the panel rated about _________ percent of guilty people to be innocent.

Question

In empirical research in which a panel of experts evaluated polygraph data,the panel rated about _________ percent of guilty people to be innocent.​

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The phenomenon of experts (even highly trained ones) misclassifying innocent people as guilty is known as the "false positive" problem. Research shows that polygraph examiners (even highly experienced ones) often overestimate people's guilt and mistakenly classify innocent people as deceptive. In fact, several studies have found that polygraph examiners may incorrectly rate anywhere from 10% to 50% (or more) of innocent people as guilty depending on the study measures and methodological rigor. One commonly cited study by Saxe and colleagues (1983) found that a panel of 10 experienced polygraph examiners in the United States rated about 25% of innocent suspects as deceptive. Thus, answer B (one-quarter) is the best choice.

In Empirical Research in Which a Panel of Experts Evaluated