SlimShady13,

I thought the same thing prior to my polygraph at the NSA in March 2000.  I failed anyway.

If the polygraph really detected deception, then a person answering the simple yes/no question truthfully would not  have to "get every  little thing off their chest" to stop the machine from reacting.  Of course, that is exactly the purpose of the test.  To TRICK the person into talking their head off.  The examiners job is to see what he/she can "get out" of the person.  Not to test for truthfulness.  It's a pretty neat trick.

Problem is, you can "get everything off your chest" and still have a "reaction" show up on the machine.  The mere fact that they are focusing in on A PARTICULAR question, and falsely claiming you are being "deceptive", is reason enough for your autonomic nervous system to react when that question is asked during the test.

And just because they precede the question with "besides what you have already told me...." will not necessarily cause your subconscious (which controls ANS reactions) to stop reacting.  It knows that it is just a permutation of that same original question (the one they are falsely claiming you are lying about).  That is enough to put ones ANS "on the defensive".

And if you continue to "react" they will continue to prod until you finally say something they can use to justify the chart "reaction", and then fail you.  It is like any INTERROGATION.  They will just try to wear you out until they get you to say something they want to hear.


TC