polyfool wrote on Sep 17^th, 2005 at 10:02pm:

Skeptic, I think you make a good point here. Reminds me of my first experience with the polygraph. The examiner falsely accused me of lying about drug use and selling. After being confronted with a failed test result and then interrogated at length, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I felt defeated and had believed so strongly in the poly's accuracy prior to taking one. I remember thinking that if what the examiner is saying is true and I really failed, then no wonder he doesn't believe me --if I were him, I wouldn't believe me, either--not with a failed poly. My belief had been that if someone failed a poly, he or she is guilty of the accusations, period. I was so beat down that for a moment, making things up to please him seemed like it might be the best thing to do just to make it stop. Then, I thought, that's crazy--there's no way I'm going to sit here and make up things that I didn't do--I didn't care about the job, anymore. My examiner told me that if I told him the truth, he would hook me back up to the poly and we could finish the test so that I could pass. I believed the poly worked, so the examiner's promise to hook me back up, kept me from admitting to things that I didn't do. I believed that if I lied about something I didn't do, the machine would show that I was lying. My examiner was successful in convincing me that the purpose of the test was to determine if I measured up to the high moral standards of the FBI and if would lie about anything. I thought the test would reveal my true character and integrity. To me, the test wasn't about drugs (although, even though I knew nothing about the poly, I knew the spying questions were important.)  I thought the test was about honesty and integrity, which kept me from just giving up and giving in, but it was a struggle as the examiner intensely presssured me and tried to trick me many times into admitting to things I didn't do. By the way, I was not interviewed following the in-test. I was interrogated immediately afterwards.  Knowing what I know now, I can't help but feel foolish and wonder how I could have been so stupid and naive to believe that the polygraph could determine lies from truth.

I have an example from my own life, but not from law enforcement.  I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, and my parents were absolutely convinced that I'd done something wrong.  They kept accusing me over and over, and eventually I "confessed" to having done what they insisted I had done.  When later proof came up that I hadn't done it (I don't recall exactly what it was; perhaps my brother admitted he had done it, or it was something missing that was then found...doesn't really matter now), my parents asked me why I'd confessed.  I simply told them that I'd 'admitted" to doing what they'd accused me of doing because they kept accusing me.

I remember feeling like denying whatever it was simply wasn't worth it; they were getting madder and madder, and wouldn't believe me.  

Now, I'm not saying that we all revert to 8 years old when we're interrogated.  But ANYONE can be worn down to the point of a false confession, especially when presented with information that either makes us doubt ourselves or convinces us that truthfully denying guilt is useless and counterproductive.

It takes a strong-willed, almost defiant personality type to keep insisting on innocence in the face of such pressure.