In a press release by Rovner & Associates, Dr. Louis Rovner makes some dubious claims regarding polygraphy:
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ — “Almost no human being can beat a polygraph test,” says Dr. Louis Rovner, a noted psychologist and polygraph expert in Woodland Hills, California. In fact, lie detection technology has become so sophisticated that a polygraph can now detect a person’s efforts to try to beat the test.
In a recent Deputy Sheriff Magazine article, Dr. Rovner writes that there are several books and pamphlets available on the internet which claim to teach people how to beat a polygraph test. None of these, he says, can do what they claim.
Dr. Rovner feels that the idea of beating a polygraph test after reading a short book is absurd. “This is about the same as saying that you will be able to perform a Beethoven Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall by simply reading a book about piano playing.” The interplay between the sophisticated technology of the polygraph, the experience of the examiner, and the involuntary physiological reactions of the subject is so complex that almost no one can look truthful on the polygraph when he is actually lying.
“Beating the polygraph,” says Rovner, “is impossible for most people.” The polygraph is a scientific instrument which records physiological changes in our bodies. Polygraph examiners are trained to look for subtle abnormalities in these changes as a person answers a series of questions. The changes, he says, are involuntary reactions that occur in our bodies when we are not being truthful. “In order to beat the test,” he says, “a person must use his central nervous system to override the involuntary activity of the autonomic nervous system, and he must do it on cue, every 25 seconds or so.” Given the anxiety of a typically polygraph subject, it is extremely unlikely that anyone could successfully fool the polygraph.
Scientific research into polygraph accuracy has been going on for more than 40 years. “Overall,” says Dr. Rovner, “we are confident that polygraph tests have a 96% accuracy rate when done properly.” That statement is backed up by hundreds of research studies and experiments. Rovner’s own published research shows that people cannot beat a polygraph test simply by reading about it.
SOURCE Rovner & Associates
Web Site: http://www.polygraph-west.com
AntiPolygraph.org’s George Maschke has publicly challenged Dr. Rovner to back some of the claims made in the above press release.