nick wrote on Nov 28^th, 2003 at 10:28pm:

I had something similar happen to me in Belgium when I was giving a tech overview of a product to the govt owned telco. I had a microphone with a metal chain to  wear around my neck during the presentation. As I picked up the mike, I felt a "hum or vibration tickle" from a small AC current capacitively coupled. Out of safety, I tested it by brushing it against a grounded chassis and drew a fairly large arc, sufficent to create a small spot weld on the chain. Further testing showed there was a live 220V on the mike due to a short and gnd fault. Had I not been an EE and known exactly what happened I think I would be damned nervous being attached to anything that plugged in! So I can really sympathise. At least guys that get the "chair" are sitting down.

[note added for EE neo's]
BTW, don't mean to scare you about the poly as a shock hazard. The sensors and electronics used are all quite low voltage and current and are eletrically safe.

-Marty

I guess I will have to go through with this test then. Reading the book to see what I can do. And its not really a fear of wires..more fear of getting s..t shocked out of me again!!

Thanks

Torpedo wrote on Nov 28^th, 2003 at 6:03pm:


Torpedo,

Thoughtful stuff.  What about the possible reduction of anxiety on the C's assuming he recognizes them from GM's book since he knows the expected reaction? Trying not to use CM's "too much" could backfire?

-Marty

Nick, for once I tend to agree with George (not completely mind you).  Stating the reservations that you have about your "fear of wires" is likely to cause the examiner to think that you may be making up such a story because admittedly such a fear is not widespread.  On the other hand though,  I do not agree with the concept of using countermeasures (Chapter 4 in TLBTLD), but I do think there could be some benefit...if taken in the right context...portions of Chapter 3 might very well be beneficial to alleviate some of your fears...whether real or perceived.  It would seem to me that if you were to go into the examination and never say anything and have an anxiety reaction...it would be from the very start and would include what GM calls a "stim" test.  I have reservationswhether a competent examiner would think you were performing CM's if this anxiety presented itself as your "standard" of physiological activity.  Anyway, I think (just my opinion... for those who will attack) the examiner will likely advise you of all of the portions of the test...compare that with what you read in GM's book...knowing the procedure is likely to reduce your anxiety....the examiner will describe the components to you and I think any fear that you my have will dissipate.  You know how I feel about countermeasures....I can't help but think that if you propose to use them (as "suggested" in  Chapter 4) your fear of getting caught (whether you will or not) using them is only going to serve to aggravate your anxiety...and any fear that you have about the components is likely to become all that much worse. You did not say anything about having the need to "hide" some previous activity, so my suggestion would be take the test....don't do anything that might cause you problems and let the chips fall where they may.  Good luck.

Yeah, polygraphers generally aren't very understanding people. Even if you have some kind of legitimate anxiety problem, they will not excuse you from the test. And I agree, they will probably use whatever you say against you as "evidence" of your lack of cooperation. How bad is your fear of wires? Do you think you can physically sit through the whole exam? If so, you probably should, and forget any hope of special arrangements.

Nick,

Asking for some other kind of "truth test" is only going to raise a red flag and may well lead to your not being hired. Even mentioning your "fear of wires" might be taken to be a behavioral sign of deception by your polygrapher (who may interpret it as your explaining in advance why you don't expect to pass).

The best you can do is to educate yourself about the polygraph process. Polygraph "testing" is a fraud. It has no scientific basis and is inherently biased against the truthful. Numerous departments have polygraph failure rates on the order of 50%.

I suggest that you download The Lie Behind the Lie Detector and read through it carefully (especially Chapters 3 & 4).

When I was younger I had an echocardiogram done on me and something went wrong with the machine when the sensor was appiled to me. Didn't actually hurt me, but scared the you know what out of me. I now have the fear of coming in contact with wires and the such. Thing sattached to my fingers, bands around my chest as I see are used I feel would make me very nervous if not worse. Is there anything that can be done about this? I know I shouldn't be like this, but I am. Is there another test that I can do and what do you think the reaction would be? I am applying for a law enforcement job at my local county.

Thanks