{"id":3855,"date":"2003-01-06T15:00:22","date_gmt":"2003-01-06T20:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?p=3855"},"modified":"2021-03-07T01:50:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T06:50:38","slug":"liars-poker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/06\/liars-poker\/","title":{"rendered":"“Liar’s Poker”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brendan I. Koerner writes for The Village Voice.<\/em> Excerpt: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I’ve been asked by a potential employer to take a lie-detector test. There was a fair amount of pot smoking in my distant past, and I’m worried it’ll disqualify me from the job, which I desperately need. Aren’t there ways to beat the machine?<\/p>

Before we start discussing techniques for fooling Mother Tech, let Mr. Roboto play lawyer for a sec. You don’t mention who this potential employer is, but unless it’s Uncle Sam, there’s no way in Hades you can be coerced into taking the test. A 1988 federal law, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, forbids private-sector firms from using lie detectors to screen applicants, though some unscrupulous bosses will try and bully you. (Word to the wise: Don’t cave\u2014worse comes to worst, you’ll have a sure-thing discrimination suit to file.)<\/p>

No such legal protections exist when it comes to government jobs, however, despite mounting evidence that polygraphs are about as reliable as 17th-century dunking stools. Good thing the Web teems with tips on how to ace any lie-detector test, regardless of the numerous blunt-puffing skeletons in your closet.<\/p>

As fans of cheesy detective fare already know, polygraphs work by measuring the physiological reactions of testees. The theory goes that a heightened pulse and sweaty palms invariably mean a person’s not on the up-and-up. Problem is, that assumption is rooted mainly in medical folklore. Not a single study exists to support a universal correlation between lying and excessive perspiration, or a speedier heart rate. Some people are just more anxious, and will exhibit the physiological signs of deception when telling the absolute truth\u2014especially when they’re strapped into a machine and brusquely ordered, “Tell us how many times you smoked dope. Tell us!” (For federal jobs, 15 times or more over a lifetime is usually an automatic disqualifier.)<\/p>

The other great polygraph flaw is its reliance on the “control question.” This is the question a polygrapher asks in order to establish what your lie looks like on the machine. A popular one is “Have you ever driven a car after drinking?”\u2014the assumption being that no adult imbiber’s ever been a perfect angel. But if you’re really the conscientious type, and your answer of “no” is truthful, then you’re royally screwed for the remainder of the test.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brendan I. Koerner writes for The Village Voice. Excerpt: Q: I’ve been asked by a potential employer to take a lie-detector test. There was a fair amount of pot smoking in my distant past, and I’m worried it’ll disqualify me from the job, which I desperately need. Aren’t there ways to beat the machine? Before … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[64,156,333],"class_list":["post-3855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-polygraph","tag-countermeasures","tag-eppa","tag-george-w-maschke"],"yoast_head":"\n"Liar's Poker"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/06\/liars-poker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Liar's Poker"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brendan I. Koerner writes for The Village Voice. Excerpt: Q: I’ve been asked by a potential employer to take a lie-detector test. 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