Lie detector testing to find out whether a person is telling the truth or not in any given situation is carried out on a regular basis by many people throughout South Africa and the world. Perhaps one of the most common reasons that somebody may be tested on what is called a Polygraph machine is in relationships or marriages where the husband or wife may have a suspicion that their partner is cheating on them with another man or woman. Whether or not a husband or wife will agree to a Polygraph test is not really a reason to assume that an affair or cheating is happening.
Other popular lie detector test reasons may include circumstances where a prosecuting lawyer needs to ask a suspected criminal questions before deciding on whether or not to take a certain case to court. Polygraph testing is also commonly used to keep a close eye on sex offenders that maybe under supervision by the community in countries such as the United States. In the UK there is talk of using compulsory testing for convicted sex offenders released on license.
Although this kind of testing is quite a controversial topic with many people of the opinion that a machine cannot distinguish the truth from deception, it is actually very accurate. A person is hooked up to the Polygraph machine and asked various questions, that persons physiological reactions are monitored and recorded as he or she answers. Inconsistencies are noticed if the person gets a little nervous or tells blunt un-truths. There are some people in the world, particularly spies, that can quite easily outsmart any lie detector test.