Posted: 5/1/2008 10:35:47 PM EDT
| I do wonder if they stick to some sort of standard line of questioning. Since a lot of police departments rely on this for job interviewees even though they aren't admissible in court. I remember reading off a sample of the stuff they ask for you for Las Vegas Metro Police. Some of the questions were...have you ever had sex with a animal? have you ever had sex with a dead person? have you ever had sex with a relative? of all the departments I have seen...they sure ask the funkiest of questions. |
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Check out: antipolygraph.org Tells you anything you want to know about the test. I've taken a couple of these "Tests". Both times, the examiner went by the dept of defense playbook. Exact same almost to the letter. It's an investigative tool designed to intimidate and pressure you into admitting guilt. |
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The polygraph is extremely good at measuring what it measures: Heart rate, breathing rate, perspiration, blood pressure. From there, it is up to the polygrapher to interpret. As mentioned, some people can read people without a machine - that ability has made "psychics" and "fortune tellers" money for thousnads of years. The machine simply magnifies and codifies your responses. It sounds like they will submit you to what is geenrally called a "lifestyle" poly. I don't have much experience with them, but odds are the polygrapher has seen it all. Don't try to cover up weird things you might feel guilty about, and you should do fine. It's the feelings of guilt in normal people that make it work - and make it sometimes ineffective against truly devient people (though for those people there are susually other indicators in any screening process). |
So if they ask me- Im sure the rest of you guys and gals might have had this happen- a question regarding having sexual relations with a relative.....does kissing a female cousin when you were 6 yrs old count as that? Should I answer yes or no? Those are the ones i am wonky about...nothing weird in my life. If i answer no would it show up as a lie or if i said yes they would think im some incestuous bastard. Oh dont worry the parents thought it was cute at the time....but shit like this makes me question everything I ve done in my life now. |
The deal is, if YOU think it might, it will show in your physical reaction. It is best to say exactly what you are thinking, so as not to suggest deception. Your blood pressure, increased perspiration, etc. as you fear they might mean that, and the machine might catch it - is what they will see. You are clearly showing the "gray area" where the standard poly "look, cut and dry" response is not so cut and dry, which is why so much is on the examiner. It does not detect lies, but people's reactions to what they think might be a lie. Be comfortable in your own skin, and you should do fine. |
The idea that the poly detects "lies" is junk science. The idea that the polygraph detects changes in blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and skin perspiration is not. But, yes - what you say is true. If he answers the questions to the best of his knowledge, he will be fine. If he believes he might be deceiving the tester, or hiding information they want to know - it WILL effect his readings. |
There is some good read there. Thanks guys. |
It is not a criminal interrogation. A polygrapher screening for law enforcement positions has a much different standard. If he thinks you are being deceptive, bye bye job. |
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my poly examiner asked me 10 questions, three times. same questions each time. only 1 question involved sex (with minors) and 1 question about drugs , and the rest were about lying to get out of trouble or something similar. the bulk of the "interview" was 2 hours of chit-chat and casual conversation. of which I am sure he was trying to "bait" me into incriminating comments. relax, be honest and , oh yeah, relax. |
He wasn't trying to "bait" you. He was establishing a baseline. It was not a criminal investigation. |