John J. Furedy

John J. Furedy (June 30, 1940 – August 23, 2016) was a Hungarian-born Australian and Canadian psychophysiologist and distinguished research professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, noted for his extensive empirical research into the unreliability of the polygraph test in lie detection and similar problems associated with biofeedback, as well as addressing contemporary issues concerning academic freedom.
Biography.
Furedy was born into a Hungarian Jewish family, the son of Bela and Dusi Furedy. Having emigrated with his parents from a totalitarian society, and influenced by the intellectual "zeitgeist" at the University of Sydney in the late 1950s and the promotion of "free speech" by the then Challis Professor of Philosophy John Anderson (philosopher), Furedy, who regarded himself as an "Andersonian realist", also cherished and was keen to articulate the principle of academic freedom. His personal interests included bridge, tennis, body surfing and cross country skiing. His obituary in the National Post read in part... "He cycled to work summer and winter, wearing an Hawaiian shirt, parking his cycle in his office, crowding the colleagues who joined him for a lunchtime bridge game'. In 2005, Furedy retired and returned to Australia with his wife, Christine. He died on August 24, 2016 at his home in Sydney aged 76 years.
Academic career.
After emigrating with his parents to Australia, Furedy attended the academically selective North Sydney Boys High School and subsequently became an "Old Falconian" (see List of Old Falconians). Several years later, Furedy graduated from the prestigious University of Sydney with a Ph.D. in psychology (his academic advisor was Dick Champion) and prior to that he had graduated with an M.A. in psychology (with first-class honours), and a separate B.A. (Hons) degree in philosophy and psychology (with first class honours in both disciplines and the rare distinction of winning the University Medal in psychology). In 1967, he joined the academic faculty at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor of Psychology immediately following two years as a visiting faculty member at the Indiana University. Furedy was promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in 1969, and subsequently to Full Professor in 1975 (until his retirement in 2005 and his appointment as "Emeritus Professor").
Research interests.
Funded repeatedly by the "National Science and Engineering Research Council" of Canada, Furedy ran a state-of-the-art psychophysiology laboratory, advising and collaborating with undergraduates, graduates and post-doctoral students until 1995. From then on, he undertook an extensive "merit vs. equity" research program supported by the Donner Canadian Foundation. According to the National Post, "Colleagues and students found him an incisive and critical thinker, determined and principled, able to disagree with opinions without personal animosity, having a sharp wit and a generous spirit".
Furedy's research interests (expressed in over 400 mostly peer-reviewed publications) spanned across various areas in psychophysiology (such as lie detection and biofeedback), philosophy of science applied to psychology as a scientific discipline, and the over-reliance on the information-processing, computer metaphor in cognitive psychology, as well as human sex differences in cognitive functions and processes. Influenced by the realist Scottish-Australian philosopher John Anderson, Furedy (who regarded himself as an "Andersonian realist") also had a strong passion in advocating the Socratic approach to higher education. Highly published in the experimental psychology peer-reviewed literature, he not only wrote conceptual pieces, but, also undertook empirical research into how universities balance the conflicting demands of "merit" and "equity" (or affirmative action") in their hiring policies, as reflected in the phraseology of their tenure-stream advertisements, including cultural aspects. Over the years, Furedy was actively engaged in several research organizations, including the Anti-polygraph organization, the "Centre for Study of Civic Renewal", and the Pavlovian Society. More recently, Furedy has collaborated on research into "brain fingerprinting".
Honors and awards.
During his academic career, aside from receiving numerous scholarships, Furedy was recipient of many Honors and Awards, including:
Inaccuracy of polygraph for lie detection.
Furedy served on the "Curriculum and Research Guidance Committee" of the then US "Department of Defense Polygraph Institute", advising against pseudoscientific polygraph screening for lie-detection in the 1990s because of evidence-based concerns about its inaccuracy and unreliability. Furedy was outspoken in exposing use of the polygraph for lie detection as fraudulent and abusive. Furedy concurred with other eminent psychophysiologists that polygraph "testing" (despite being shamelessly and irresponsibly promoted in the mass media) has no actual scientific basis, being almost entirely dependent on an individual's ignorance and propensity to experience fear. "The Lie Behind The Lie Detector" aimed to "call public attention to the dangers of polygraphy and to protect the innocent from polygraph abuse. Because of...reliance on this pseudoscientific procedure, thousands of truthful persons have been falsely accused of deception and suffered serious adverse consequences. On the other hand, deceptive persons can easily defeat polygraph "tests" through countermeasures, as did convicted spy Aldrich H. Ames.""
Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.
Furedy was also a founding member and onetime President of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.