Opinion ID: 2623542
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Acceptance by relevant scientific community.

Text: {42} Finally, while general acceptance is not a requirement for admissibility under [Rule 11-702], it is a factor the court may consider. Anderson, 118 N.M. at 299, 881 P.2d at 44. As the United States Supreme Court noted in Daubert, a known technique which has been able to attract only minimal support within the community may properly be viewed with skepticism. 509 U.S. at 594, 113 S.Ct. 2786 (quotation marks and quoted authority omitted). In this case, the district court concluded that [c]ontrol question polygraph tests are not accepted in the relevant scientific community at a significant level, particularly considering the age of the technique. {43} In arguing whether the control question polygraph has been generally accepted by the relevant scientific community, the parties have identified four surveys of psychologists' opinions regarding polygraph examinations, including: The Gallup Organization, Survey of Members of the Society for Psychological Research Concerning Their Opinion of Polygraph Test Interpretation, 13 Polygraph 153 (1984) [hereinafter Gallup Survey]; Susan L. Amato, A Survey of Members of The Society for Psychophysiological Research Regarding the Polygraph: Opinions and Implications (1993) (unpublished Master's thesis, University of North Dakota) (on file with the University of North Dakota Library) [hereinafter Amato Survey]; W.G. Iacono & D.T. Lykken, The Validity of the Lie Detector: Two Surveys of Scientific Opinion, 82 J. of Applied Psychol. 426 (1997) [hereinafter Iacono Survey]; and Honts et al., General Acceptance of the Polygraph by the Scientific Community (Mar. 9, 2002) (unpublished paper presented at the meetings of the American Psychology Law Society, on file with author) [hereinafter Honts Survey]. Of these four surveys, the district court found the Iacono survey to be the most reliable, and relied exclusively on that survey in drawing its conclusion that control question polygraph examinations do not enjoy general acceptance within the scientific community. {44} In the Gallup Survey, conducted in 1982, a random sample of 155 members of the Society for Psychophysiological Research were interviewed regarding their opinion of the use of polygraph testing procedures to detect deception. Gallup Survey, supra, at 154. When asked their opinion of polygraph tests for interpreting whether a subject is or is not telling the truth, 61% of the respondents agreed that the polygraph is a useful diagnostic tool when considered with other available information. Id. at 157. An additional 32% agreed that the polygraph is of questionable usage and is entitled to little weight against other information. Id. Only 3% believed that the polygraph is of no usefulness. Id. In 1993, Amato replicated the Gallup Survey in an effort to determine if there were any changes in the scientific community's opinions on the validity of the polygraph in the preceding ten years. Amato Survey, supra, at 1. The Amato Survey received 136 total responses, for a response rate of approximately 30%. Id. at 2. This time, when asked the same question as in the Gallup Survey, 60% of the respondents agreed that the polygraph is a useful diagnostic tool, 37% agreed it is of questionable usage, and 2% believed it was of no usefulness. Id. at 3. {45} In 1997, two groups of scientists were surveyed in an attempt to more thoroughly assess current scientific opinion about polygraphy. Iacono Survey, supra, at 427. The first group surveyed by Iacono was the same one used in both the Gallup Survey and the Amato Survey  the Society of Psychophysiological Research. Id. at 428. Questionnaires were sent to 216 society members, and 195 members responded. Id. at 429. Of those who responded and had an opinion on the polygraph, only 36% believed that the control question technique is based on scientifically sound psychological principles or theory; whereas, 77% believed the guilty knowledge test is based on sound psychological principles. Id. at 430. The second group surveyed was the Fellows of Division 1 (General Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. Id. at 428. Questionnaires were mailed to 249 APA Fellows, and 168 usable questionnaires were returned. Id. at 429. In this group, only 30% believed the control question technique is based on sound psychological principles and 72% believed the same of the guilty knowledge test. Id. at 430. {46} Finally, in 2002, a paper was presented at the meetings of the American Psychology Law Society (APLS) that was based on two surveys: one of the APLS and one of the SPR. Honts Survey, supra, at 1, 8. Only 55 out of 205 APLS members responded, and 38 out of 366 SPR members responded. Id. at 8. Of those who responded, 96% of the APLS members and 91% of the SPR members believed that polygraph studies published in scientific peer-reviewed journals are based on generally accepted scientific methodology. Id. at 14. When asked to compare the usefulness of the polygraph to other specific examples of commonly admitted evidence, more than half of the respondents believed that polygraph evidence is as useful or more useful than a psychologist's opinion of parental fitness, a psychologist's opinion regarding malingering, an eyewitness identification of a robbery suspect, a psychological assessment of dangerousness, and a psychological assessment of temporary insanity. Id. at 15. Finally, slightly more than half of the APLS respondents and slightly less than half of the SPR respondents believed that the accuracy of judicial verdicts would be increased if polygraph test results were admitted as evidence at trial. Id. at 16. {47} As noted earlier in this opinion, see supra ¶ 27, there is a heated debate in the scientific community on the validity of the control question polygraph examination. This debate is reflected by the competing surveys cited above. The Iacono Survey was conducted by Dr. William Iacono, Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, who testified on behalf of the State at the evidentiary hearing below. The Amato Study was a Master's thesis conducted under the guidance of Dr. Charles Honts, Professor of Psychology at Boise State. Dr. Honts also was the lead scientist of the Honts Study. He testified on behalf of the Respondents at the hearing below. The hearing below was not the first time that Dr. Iacono and Dr. Honts have been on opposing sides in the debate over the admissibility of polygraph examination results. Compare David C. Raskin, Charles R. Honts & John C. Kircher, The Scientific Status of Research on Polygraph Techniques: The Case for Polygraph Tests, in 1 Modern Scientific Evidence: The Law and Science of Expert Testimony § 14-2.0 (David L. Faigman et al. eds., 1997); with William G. Iacono & David T. Lykken, The Scientific Status of Research on Polygraph Techniques: The Case Against Polygraph Tests, in 1 Modern Scientific Evidence, supra, § 14-3.0. Based on the foregoing, we cannot conclude that the control question polygraph has been generally accepted within the scientific community. However, we also cannot conclude that the control question polygraph has been uniformly rejected by the scientific community. This factor thus carries little weight in our Alberico /Daubert analysis of the control question polygraph.