Dude, I just failed my phrenology exam and I'm not sure why.  And my latest horoscope was totally inaccurate, but I can't figure that out either.  Maybe my phone a psychic can help me figure out why...

The polygraph has some minor value in the detection of deception department, albeit not nearly enough to rely on it.  It wouldn't be used except for it's ability to enhance interrogations and coerce confessions.  If no one confessed it'd go away pretty quickly.

I'm saddened to learn of your unfortunate but all-too-common experience. First off, you need to understand that your anxiety about the polygraph was well justified: polygraphy has absolutely no scientific basis and worse still, it is inherently biased against the most conscientious and truthful persons. For a "Reader's Digest" version of how polygraphy works (and doesn't), see the AntiPolygraph.org home page. For a fuller description, including information on how to reduce the risk of a false positive outcome in the future, see our book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector (1 mb PDF).

I recently applied to become a police officer. I had to take a polygraph as a part as a pre-employment screening. My whole life I have had a phobia about having to take a polygraph. The weeks leading up to the exam I was very nervous about taking it, even having trouble sleeping. When they day came to take the test I answered every single question truthfully, nearly to a fault. The examiner when preparing me for the test said he was having trouble getting me zeroed in for the test because my blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate kept changing. I told him I was very nervous and very cold and had been dreading taking the test for sometime. He told me to relax, so I did by taking deep breathes and tapping my fingers to release nervous energy. He then told me I couldn't do those things and had to stay completely still, thus causing me to become more nervous than I first was. When he started asking me the test questions he asked if I trusted him and I said "no". He seemed unhappy about this and proceeded anyone with the test. It took him nearly 1.5 hours just to zero me in for the polygraph and he said he still "wasn't to happy with the fluctuations". He proceeded and rather than asking me questions about my past, spoke to me like I was on trial, almost accusing me of lying, which upset me to a degree, enough where I could feel my heart rate increase and myself tense up. Before we had even finished the first rounds of questions he told me there was no point in continuing the test because I was failing nearly every question, even ones we both knew I was being honest on, he felt like I was "an extremely deceptive person and a liar.". I responded by saying I could feel myself becoming upset because of the way he was questioning me, that I felt upset about being accused of something I said was true, and that was. like I said I am honest to a fault. Needless to say I was denied a second polygraph from a different person and banned, for life, from ever applying with that department again. I am wondering if answers that we(tester and myself) both knew to be true, showed as false and vice versa how I could be labeled a liar and denied a different person? I am beyond frustrated with my experience and feel like my character and reputation has, to some degree been raped. I told the truth to the point of being beyond embarrased but was still told it wasn't good enough, how do I avoid this same thing from happening when applying for a different department?

thanks-
frustrated