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The Lie Behind the Lie Detector

The dirty little secret behind the polygraph is that the "test" depends on trickery, not science. The person being "tested" is not supposed to know that while the polygraph operator declares that all questions must be answered truthfully, warning that the slightest hint of deception will be detected, he secretly assumes that denials in response to certain questions -- called "control" questions -- will be less than truthful. An example of a commonly used control question is, "Did you ever lie to get out of trouble?" The polygrapher steers the examinee into a denial by warning, for example, that anyone who would do so is the same kind of person who would commit the kind of behavior that is under investigation and then lie about it. But secretly, it is assumed that everyone has lied to get out of trouble.

The polygraph pens don't do a special dance when a person lies. The polygrapher scores the test by comparing physiological responses (breathing, blood pressure, heart, and perspiration rates) to these probable-lie control questions with reactions to relevant questions such as, "Did you ever commit an act of espionage against the United States?" (commonly asked in security screening). If the former reactions are greater, the examinee passes; if the latter are greater, he fails. If responses to both "control" and relevant questions are about the same, the result is deemed inconclusive.

The test also includes irrelevant questions such as, "Are the lights on in this room?" The polygrapher falsely explains that such questions provide a "baseline for truth," because the true answer is obvious. But in reality, they are not scored at all! They merely serve as buffers between pairs of relevant and "control" questions.

The simplistic methodology used in polygraph testing has no grounding in the scientific method: it is no more scientific than astrology or tarot cards. Government agencies value it because people who don't realize it's a fraud sometimes make damaging admissions. But as a result of reliance on this voodoo science, the truthful are often falsely branded as liars while the deceptive pass through.

Perversely, the "test" is inherently biased against the truthful, because the more honestly one answers the "control" questions, and as a consequence feels less stress when answering them, the more likely one is to fail. Conversely, liars can beat the test by covertly augmenting their physiological reactions to the "control" questions. This can be done, for example, by doing mental arithmetic, thinking exciting thoughts, altering one's breathing pattern, or simply biting the side of the tongue. Truthful persons can also use these techniques to protect themselves against the risk of a false positive outcome. Although polygraphers frequently claim they can detect such countermeasures, no polygrapher has ever demonstrated any ability to do so, and peer-reviewed research suggests that they can't.

Polygraph Countermeasure Challenge On 28 January 2002, retired FBI polygraph expert Dr. Drew C. Richardson reiterated his challenge to the polygraph community to prove their claimed ability to detect countermeasures (techniques for passing -- or beating -- the polygraph). His challenge has gone eleven years without any takers. What are the polygraph operators afraid of? (Listen to a personal message from Dr. Richardson.)

Confirmed Polygraph Countermeasure Case Documentation
AntiPolygraph.org has received and analyzed documentation from a so-called "confirmed countermeasure case."

Federal Polygraph School Gave Countermeasure Information to Polygraph Company
Coming on the heels of an accusation that a senior official at the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA) facilitated the transfer of classified information to the government of Singapore via the Lafayette Instrument Company, AntiPolygraph.org has received information that NCCA has provided polygraph countermeasure documentation to a representative of Stoelting Co., another polygraph-manufacturing company.

CBP Withholds Operation Lie Busters PowerPoint Presentation
On 1 October 2013, AntiPolygraph.org electronically filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation on Operation Lie Busters presented by CBP polygraph chief John R. Schwartz at the American Association of Police Polygraphists' annual meeting on 3 June 2013.

NCCA Seeks Polygraph Countermeasure Detection Software
A 2013 presentation by the National Center for Credibility Assessment documents that the federal polygraph school is working on a computer software project intended to automate the detection of polygraph countermeasures.

National Center for Credibility Assessment FY 2013 Research & Development
Unclassified presentation on NCCA research and development dated 19 March 2013.

Don Krapohl Accused of Violating Espionage Act
As noted yesterday on the blog, recently retired Defense Intelligence Agency counterintelligence agent Scott W. Carmichael has accused Don Krapohl, a senior official at the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA), of violating the Espionage Act by orchestrating the transfer of classified information to the government of Singapore....

Polygraph Operator Ken Blackstone Pleads Guilty to Perjury
Georgia polygraph operator Ken Blackstone has pleaded guilty to a single count of perjury, a felony punishable by one to ten years' imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000 under Georgia state law.

Senior Official at Federal Polygraph School Accused of Espionage
Scott W. Carmichael, a recently retired counterintelligence investigator with the Defense Intelligence Agency, has accused Donald Krapohl, Special Assistant to the Chief, National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA) and longtime editor of the American Polygraph Association quarterly, Polygraph, of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

Sacked U.S. Customs and Border Protection Internal Affairs Chief James F. Tomsheck Was Keynote Speaker at 2013 NCCA Graduation Ceremony
AntiPolygraph.org has obtained a copy of the CBP Internal Affairs newsletter highlighting the event.

DEA to Pay $500,000 to Settle Polygraph Lawsuit
McClatchy investigative reporter Marisa Taylor reports that the Drug Enforcement Agency has agreed to pay 14 contract translators $500,000 to settle a lawsuit brought under the 1988 Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA).

Doug Williams Goes Public on Federal Agents' Attempted Entrapment and Raid
Former Oklahoma City police polygraph examiner Doug Williams, who has campaigned against polygraphy since realizing in the 1970s that what he and fellow polygraphers were doing is a fraud, has for the first time told the story of how federal agents in February 2013 attempted to entrap him for teaching people how to pass polygraph examinations.

CBP Polygraph Chief John R. Schwartz Claims "Sophisticated Countermeasures Can Be Routinely Identified"
John R. Schwartz, who heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection polygraph unit, claims that sophisticated polygraph countermeasures (the kind described in AntiPolygraph.org's free book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector), can be routinely identified "when all best practices are employed, including proper training of examiners and stringent Quality Control."

Federal Polygraph School May Classify Training and Research Materials
McClatchy Newspapers investigative reporter Marisa Taylor reports that the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA), which trains all federal polygraph operators, is proposing that certain training and research materials be classified or subjected to limited distribution.

Quarterly Polygraphs for NSA Analysts?
Professor Daniel Drezner reports that following Edward Snowden's disclosures, NSA analysts "have gone from being polygraphed once every five years to once every quarter."

U.S. Government Circulates Watch List of Buyers of Information on How to Pass a Polygraph Test
McClatchy investigative reporter Marisa Taylor reports that a list of 4,904 individuals whose names were derived from the customer records of Doug Williams and Chad Dixon, both of whom were targeted in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection-led criminal investigation called Operation Lie Busters, has been circulated to nearly 30 federal agencies including the CIA, NSA, DIA, DOE, IRS, and FDA.

Secret Service Supervisor Removed from Presidential Security Detail, Ignacio Zamora Jr., Is a Former Polygraph Operator
On Thursday, 14 November 2013, the Washington Post reported that Ignacio Zamora Jr., a U.S. Secret Service senior supervisor who oversaw members of President Obama’s security detail, was removed from his assignment and is under investigation for alleged misconduct.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Polygraph Chief John R. Schwartz on Interrogation
AntiPolygraph.org has received a copy of a presentation (1.4 mb PDF) on interrogation given by John R. Schwartz, who now heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Internal Affairs Credibility Assessment Division.

An Attempted Entrapment
In May 2013, I was the target of an attempted entrapment. Whether it was a federal agent attempting to entrap me on a contrived material support for terrorism charge or simply an individual's attempt to embarrass me and discredit AntiPolygraph.org remains unclear. In this post, I will provide a full public accounting of the attempt, including the raw source of communications received and the IP addresses involved.

 

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