POPSUGAR UK

So . . . Is the Love Island Lie Detector Accurate?

25/07/2018 - 06:30 AM

The truth *really* hurt for Dani last night! 💔 #LoveIsland [1] pic.twitter.com/LvwMfqJm1s [2]

— Love Island (@LoveIsland) July 24, 2018 [3]

As we now are one week away from the Love Island finale [4], things have started to get quite intense in the villa. On Monday night, public favourite Dani Dyer was left devastated after Jack Fincham failed to answer one of the questions during a lie detector test. Asked if he could be tempted by other girls outside the villa, the 26-year-old sales manager confidently replied "no," only to be told that he had lied. But are lie detectors truly accurate and reliable?

Lie detectors are designed to detect deception through the "analysis of physiological responses to a structured, but unstandardised, series of questions," explains the American Psychological Association [5]. To determine whether a person is lying, heart rate, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity are measured and recorded, but "the idea that we can detect a person's veracity by monitoring psychophysiological changes is more myth than reality."

Over the years, the reliability of lie detectors — or polygraph tests — has often been debated, as "there is no evidence that any pattern of physiological reactions is unique to deception. An honest person may be nervous when answering truthfully and a dishonest person may be non-anxious." In our Love Island couple's case, Jack did admit to being nervous before taking the lie detector, which would have increased his heart rate and therefore made it look like he was lying. So don't lose hope just yet — Jack was hopefully simply nervous at the idea of having to answer questions about his feelings for Dani in front of his housemates and the whole nation.


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/Love-Island-Lie-Detector-Accurate-45078382