[4] The name was coined from Shakespeare's play Othello, which provides an "excellent and famous example"[1] of what can happen when fear and distress upon confrontation do not signal deception.
Seeing his wife's emotional distress, Othello ignores alternative, innocent explanations—like the possibility that she did not love another—and kills her, as his preconceptions biased his observation and, therefore, his judgments.
[8] Many law enforcement officials were on high alert for future attacks and quick to point the finger at "suspicious-looking" individuals.
However, in a situation in which not only law enforcement but also the general public are anxious and assiduous, the potential for Othello errors to creep into the real world is high.
A polygraph, popularly referred to as a lie detector, measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions.
The use of polygraph in court testimony remains controversial, and no judge can force a witness to go through with the test, although it is used extensively in post-conviction supervision, particularly of sex offenders.
"[1] Attempts to overcome this—such as the Matte-Quadri comparison technique that factors into the system the innocent examinee's fear of terror and quantifies the results, hence addressing physiological responses produced by that emotion[12]—have been met with scepticism.
This is difficult and requires the lie catcher to have previous background knowledge of the suspect and the emotions they convey under different types of duress.