xpmachina,

First, because you are under investigation in a criminal case, I think you should refuse the polygraph "test" and seek legal counsel. It may be embarrassing to refuse now after you originally promised the DA to go through with the "test," but you can explain that you've learned that the "test" is a fraud (and it is).

The polygrapher's claim that this little card game allows him to "adjust" the machine to your response is a lie. What you described is called an acquaintance test or a stimulation (or "stim") test. The whole purpose of this little game is to attempt to convince the subject that the polygraph can actually detect lies. For more about the stim test, see Chapter 3 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

Now, there is indeed a polygraph technique that has no probable-lie or directed-lie "control" questions. It's called the Peak of Tension Test (POT), or Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT) (or, alternatively, the Concealed Information Test). One Asian country where this technique is more widely used than in the United States is Japan.

Although this technique has a sounder theoretical foundation than the "Control" Question "Test," (CQT) its validity has yet to be established by peer-reviewed research conducted under field conditions. This technique is discussed briefly in Chapter 3 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector:


Quote:

Peak of Tension (POT) or Guilty Knowledge Test This kind of polygraph examination depends on the polygrapher having knowledge of details of a crime that a suspect should also know only if he is guilty. For example, in the case of an assassination, a suspect could be asked: if you were the trigger man, you should know what kind of ammunition was used. Was it: a) a NATO-standard 5.56mm round? b) a 7.62 x 39mm round? c) a .22 long rifle round? d) a 30-06 round? e) a 9mm semi-jacketed hollow point round? It is expected that the guilty subject will physiologically respond when asked about the ammunition he used in the assassination. Professor Lykken describes the Guilty Knowledge Test, which is based on sounder theoretical principles than the "Control" Question "Test," in chapters 20 and 21 of A Tremor in the Blood.

The Guilty Knowledge Test, however, like the "Control" Question "Test," can be countermeasured by creating responses to one or more of the non-key items.

Again, my advice to you would be to refuse to submit to any polygraph test and to get a lawyer.