Claire,
The answer to your question is "no." You should not submit to polygraph testing. It will not help your situation and any polygraph examiner would be foolish to test you considering your medical condition.

My husband  was me to prove I haven't cheat but I what to know if I can do a polygraph  with a congenital  heart defect pacemaker and a iplantable cardioverter defibrillator thank you Mrs Claire winn

Ok, after reading all of your postings I have taken my share of polygraphs.... For security reasons. Take the damn test, I get the feeling your hiding something. If there is nothing to hide then why be so afraid. DUH ! 

Quote:

Seems odd that you would pose this question in a public discussion forum.

Mr. Williams... you say you can sell a deal to ensure passing a polygraph. I know there's some legal wrangling with your business at the moment... is there a way to hire you while staying anonymous?

Ace wrote on Feb 27^th, 2014 at 7:52pm:

It does not matter whether you are healthy or whether you are ill, the polygraph is not a "lie detector". It measures nervousness, and nervousness does not ALWAYS indicate deception. The polygraph is nothing more than a psychological billy club used by an interrogator to get a confession. It is a thinly disguised excuse to get you in the hands of a trained interrogator without the benefit of counsel so that he can question you for hours without your attorney interfering with his so-called "scientific procedure".

I've had 5 polygraphs. One for a criminal investigation. That one came out as ndi and was still hounded that i needed to confess to the crime.even tho i had evidence that prove my innocence..since then had four more fail one passed another.same questions same answers.. well i took another one and said i failed on one question out of three runs the test  three times.first two ndi last one failed one question.
Well i have asthma and just found out i have heart disease.the poly tests bp pulse breathing and muscle movements that's the pad u sit on.needless to say an honest person with health problems  can fail and a healthy liar can pass.

Michael,

I completely agree with Twoblock. Polygraphy is junk science, and it's used by police as a pretext to get a suspect into an interrogation room without a lawyer present. Police interrogation techniques can be highly manipulative and coercive, and your "failing" the "test" could even be a pre-scripted part of the interrogation plan.

In fact, not only should you not take the polygraph, you should not even speak with police at all without a lawyer present:

michael
Do NOT take the polygraph. If they had any hard evidence, you would already be arrested. What they want is to interrogate you whithout your lawyer being present so they may badger you into a confession. You are not required by law to take the test.

i have a irregular heart beat and a detective wants me to take a polygraph to prove my innosents im willing to do this but im worried i would fail do to my tick in my heart witch couses my heart to beat any were from 99 to 105 beats per minute should i deny a polygraph and if so wouldnt that make me look just as guilty as if i took it and failed

Seeker,

My experience in the field and knowledge from the available research would not substantiate either of these claims.

J.B.,

Thank you for your response.  Would I be far off if I said that past claims by individuals that the use of various medications altered their polygraph results were totally without basis?

Also, I have heard some local polygraph examiners say that the only "condition" that they know of that alters the outcome of the exam is when a person is a pathological liar.  Does this have any foundation?

Thanks in advance for all responses.

Regards,
Seeker

Seeker,

Sorry for the delayed response.  I am productively busy these days and missed your question when originally posted.

To my knowledge, the only eliminating heart condition is that which may lend itself to an increased risk of a myocardial infarction.  Marty is correct in his cite that beta blockers have not been shown to eliminate physiological responsibility.   I know of no studies that have proven that any medication accomplishes the previous stated.

Beta blockers are often prescribed for tachycardia together with high BP as it tends to increase stroke volume and attenuates rate. One, Propranolol, has been studied as to countermeasure properties and was found to have little effect except for some decrease in false positives (Gatchel et al, 1984), unpublished, Univ. of Texas. Presumably, polygraphers are not concerned by Beta blocker usage which is especially common for high BP treatment in younger patients.

-Marty

Quote:


Ok, since no one ever bothered to answer me before - either you guys think I am too simple to understand scientific terminology ( I do own a dictionary guys), or else you just don't know the answer - I am going to ask again.

Is there any known medical conditions, or situations wherein a person has a long medical history of taking certain medications, that would cause an examiner to decline giving a polygraph to an individual?

*wondering if this will ever be answered*

Regards,

Seeker

wombat,

There are no studies, to my knowledge, that specifically address the notion that either tachycardia or bradycardia will effect the accuracy of a polygraph examination.    

Your condition may be construed as a heart condition, depending on the standard procedures of the examiner, and require a medical evaluation and doctors written approval prior to the administration of a polygraph.  I would suggest that you contact your examiner and ascertain whether or not you need to get a doctors approval prior to your scheduled polygraph.  This will help eliminate the possibility of needing to reschedule your exam.

i got the point of chapter 3, i just dident explain my self properly...

wombat,

You may wish to review Chapter 3. No offence intended, but it appears that you have not fully understood it. The polygraph does not detect lies. Rather, deception with regard to relevant questions is inferred when reactions to them are stronger than reactions to corresponding "control" questions. Conversely, if reactions to the "control" questions are stronger, it is inferred that answers to the relevant questions were truthful.

You are correct in your impression that it is not terribly difficult to "trick" the polygraph.

thanx for all the replies.
ive almost finnished reading the book, very interesting.
but. in reality, if you were to folow the "rules" i.e. control your breath and react "funny" to control questions will it "hide" lies? or is it individual?
my impression of what i have read so far is that its not too hard to "trik" the polygraph. or am i totaly wrong?

Wombat,

I agree with the other replies to your question. I would definitely consider informing the polygrapher as well as the agency if you’re applying for employment [not sure] prior to your scheduled polygraph exam.

Your specific medical situation “irregular heartbeat” could either play to your favor, or against you depending on the type of question asked at the given moment and time a possible irregular heartbeat may occur. 

Hopefully, you will not experience any heart beat irregularities during your polygraph testing. I suggest that you consider reading “TLBTLD” available for free on this website.

Knowledge is power, regardless of your situation. 

Be informed. 

Respectfully,
Triple x

Wombat,

My advice would be to make certain you have let the examiner know about your irregular heartbeat. That will at least serve to give you some grounds to contest if the results aren't correct. Since the APA Code of Ethics is clear about giving examinations to people with a physical or mental condition that may skew the results, your examiner should  be very careful in conducting and scoring the exam. That's not to say that he/she will be. Good luck.

wombat,

There's really no way of telling. If your heart were to beat irregularly during the 20-30 second period following the asking of a question, it would presumably make your response to that question appear greater. Depending on whether that question was a relevant or a "control" question, such irregular heart beat might hurt or help you, respectively. But there is no way of knowing in advance when, during the course of a polygraph examination, irregular heartbeat might occur.

thanx for the answer but does any one know of any one with this or a similar condition that did the test?
how would it affect the test if i were to lie? would it make the lie more extreme or would it make it look "normal" on me.
same vice verca...?

wombat,

To the best of my knowledge, there is no peer-reviewed research on the effects of cardiac arrythmia (irregular heart beat) on polygraph examinations. Note, however, that polygraphy has not been proven through peer-reviewed research to work at better-than-chance levels with those without chronic or acute medical conditions.

Before you consent to any polygraph "test," I suggest that you download and read AntiPolygraph.org's free e-book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector. See especially chapters 1 and 3.

i got a question...
im probably going to be taking a polygraph test some time soon. now, i have very iregular pulse and heart beat. some times it goes very fast, some times very slow. im not sure what the condition is called. but some times a get a bit of a tight chest and lose my breath.
how does this affect a polygraph test? if at all.
if it affects it, then how? to my benifit or theres? could it make me fall on things im innocent on? or will it work for me and confuse them.