Kona-

Good question. The answer is this: I experimented with CM's on a couple of 'Control' questions, just to see if there was any distinct variance(s) between the use of CM's or the straightforward truth. Unfortunately, (and I should have foreseen this) I never was able to view the charts afterward, and even if I had been able to, I don't suspect I would have been able to determine if there was any difference in the physiological responses, since I am not a professional 'chart gazer' and don't possess the exquisite training afforded to the elite 'professional' polygraph examiner community. I unobtrusively increased my breathing and heart rate and visualized 'exciting' scenarios in my head to accomplish the electrodermal responses, but have no clue whether or not they did anything on the chart. I find it strange though, over my career in federal service, after holding and maintaining TS-SCI level clearance, that I have never been polygraphed by any of the agencies which afforded me that level of clearance. Odd. Anyway, to answer your other question, I had no valid reason to use countermeasures other than perhaps to offset the guilt of being in presence of others who were using drugs illegally. The fact that I hold a clearance and consider myself a law-abiding citizen I suspect was enough for me to feel guilt during the questions about drug usage, and thus, damaging physiological responses during these same questions. I would think that the FBI would appreciate the fact that candidates for employment would feel guilty about having been present where a 'crime' was being commited, even though the prospective employee never engaged in the actual 'act' of the crime itself. So, I decided not to use CM's throughout the entire 'test' for ethical reasons. I don't think it's such a bad thing to feel some measure of guilt about past involvement in things one knows is against the law, even when that involvement was not active engagement of breaking a law. Except of course, when one is engaged in taking a polygraph 'test'. I read TLBTLD essentially for background information on the polygraph and it's administration, not for the effective use of countermeasures. I'm not sure that I could have identified the control questions without having read TLBTLD, however. And really, I didn't need to identify the control questions at all, since I had no plans to use CM's. Hope this dissertation answers your questions.

Undesirable