Anonymous (5/5, 6:14:50) wrote:  


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A substantial percentage of those who contribute to this message board (including those who manage the antipolygraph.org web site) are individuals whose initial experience with polygraphy was not in the role of a polygraph critic or as an advocate of the use of polygraph countermeasures.  They simply began as innocent examinees who trusted their federal government and its tools for applicant evaluation.  Only after having found themselves VICTIMIZED THROUGH POLYGRAPHY (having done precisely what you suggest), did they then wish that they knew then (before the polygraph exam) what they now know regarding this pseudoscience. It is with this experience in mind that they now with unwavering purpose and clear conscience make the information and advice available that you openly question and most assuredly privately fear.

I’m well aware of the effect of false positives, and the victims have my deepest sympathy.  We humans live in an imperfect world, doing the best we can with what is available.  Without wishing to trivialize the experience of those who have suffered polygraph false positives, I must point out that no diagnostic test is perfectly accurate.  Some errors have more grievous effects than others.  Errors in the medical system have given rise to the saying “doctors bury their mistakes.”


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… there is every reason to believe that both innocent and guilty examinees who make no admissions regarding the use of countermeasures will likewise be successful in their efforts to employ them.  If this is not true, i.e., polygraph counter-countermeasures are not simply a bluff requiring an admission on the part of an examinee and can only be perpetrated with a cloak of secrecy, please explain.

You seem to be suggesting that nobody who keeps mum about using countermeasures will ever “fail” the polygraph.  That is simply not true.  Although each agency has considerable latitude in developing its own policies, those whose policies I am aware of allow examiners to report suspected countermeasures as such.  When handled and verified according to the guidelines of those agencies, they are reported to the adjudicators and are grounds for denial of employment for the reasons I stated in my original post in this thread.


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Furthermore, if polygraph counter-countermeasures are truly effectively in place, you should be able to describe how they work in such a manner as to convince this audience that (1) this is how they (counter-countermeasures) reliably work, (2) this is how we can unquestionably demonstrate them (responses to countermeasures) not to be reflective of normal physiological response (independent of an examinee making such an admission), and (3) there is no way that they (examinees) can foil polygraphers by simply being aware of  these counter-countermeasures and thereby force a non-deceptive result.

Surely you jest!  Countermeasures and counter-countermeasures are a high stakes battle which directly impacts the criminal justice system and national security.  Those who teach people how to beat the polygraph and those whose job is to detect and prevent that, are in an adversarial relationship.  Both sides are learning how to be more effective.  If I detail how we are detecting countermeasures (i.e., the mistakes the advisors are making), that would boost you considerably higher along your learning curve, hurting the criminal justice system and national security.  With time, experience, and feedback, countermeasure advisors will improve their advice.  In the meantime, the federal polygraph community needs the time to develop long range solutions to the countermeasure problem by developing a more robust test using, say, brain imaging.

Peace