Ancient lie detector Test lab During our History of Forensics lecture, we learned that some ancient cultures had methods of deciding whether someone was lying or not. These were the first instances of a society/societies using a rudimentary lie detector test. Both ancient Chinese and Indian cultures believed that the amount of saliva one produces has a relationship to whether they are telling the truth or not. A guilty suspect would produce less saliva. Lie detector tests today also use how our body reacts or doesn’t to find out who’s telling the truth, so were these ancient societies that far off? That is what we will be testing in this lab. Therefore we will be trying to answer this question: Do ancient societies' beliefs about saliva and lying bear out? Steps of the Lab: 1. Miss Hall will first pass out the lab sheets. Students will get out their casebooks at this time as well. 2. Miss Hall will then divide the class up into pairs. One lucky student will get the chance to choose their own group. 3. When pairs have been made, the students will start putting what they can about this case into their casebook. It is essential to include their hypothesis about this question: Will ancient societies' beliefs about saliva and lying bear out? The pairs will also brainstorm reasons why they believe the way they do. Lab Set-Up: 1. When you come into class, Miss Hall will first pass out questionnaires to each pair (one for each). Without the other one seeing what they are writing, the student will answer each questions and for at least two or three of them, they will either write lies or star which ones they will be answering as lies. The students will stow these answers away in their casebooks for later. 2. Next, one student will get a set of blank questionnaires and a set of crackers or cracker crumbs from Miss Hall. The person not eating the crackers, will start asking the other the questions. It is extremely important that the person asking the questions take careful notes about what they observed. While performing this experiment, it is extremely important to remember to be safe and sanitary. Therefore, I ask each pair to sit as far away as possible from one another at the lab table and after each person is question, you wipe down your table. Once the first student has answered the questions, the students will switch roles and conduct the experiment again using the same instructions. **Please feel free after being questioned to get a drink to cleanse your palette.** 3. When each pair has finished, they will clean up their area thoroughly and record their observations in their casebooks. Lab Wrap-Up: 1. At the beginning of class, the students will take out their casebooks and lab sheets. 2. Using the information they obtained over the past two days the students will: a. Using your written observations, compare them to your partner's questionnaire i.e. which questions did they lie about? Did you observe any differences on these questions? If yes, how so? b. Next, you will write up two paragraphs: **These paragraphs need to be a minimum of five sentences each. They should be typed, printed, and submitted to Miss Hall by the beginning of class on Monday, September 13th.** 1. First Paragraph: Did your hypothesis turn out to be true? You will first list your hypothesis, then whether it was proven or not, and then explain why or why not. 2. Second Paragraph: Look into how we administer lie detectors today. In the first part of this paragraph you will explain the new test. In the second part, you will decide and then defend which test is more reliable-ancient or modern lie detectors? The third part of this paragraph will be your answer and explanation as to whether you would allow the results from either one of these tests to be used in a court of law to prove a point, innocence, etc. Lie detector Lab Questionnaire (To be filled out by you.) 1. What is your full name? 2. What is the date of your birth? 3. Do you have your driver’s license? 4. Do you gather with all your family for Thanksgiving? 5. Have you ever taken anything that wasn’t yours? 6. Have you ever had to go to court? 7. Have you ever hidden the fact that you have broken something that wasn’t yours? 8. How many siblings do you have? 9. Have you ever been caught cheating on a test, etc.? 10. What is your favorite color? Lie detector Lab Questionnaire (To ask your partner and make observations about their answers.) 1. What is your full name? 2. What is the date of your birth? 3. Do you have your driver’s license? 4. Do you gather with all your family for Thanksgiving? 5. Have you ever taken anything that wasn’t yours? 6. Have you ever had to go to court? 7. Have you ever hidden the fact that you have broken something that wasn’t yours? 8. How many siblings do you have? 9. Have you ever been caught cheating on a test, etc.? 10. What is your favorite color?
