Anon,
Thanks for posting.
Quote:On the relevants I simply tried to breath nice and rounded breaths and kept calm and collected (I basically kept a nice rounded breathing pattern the whole way through, not allowing myself to change pattern significantly anywhere in the test as I thought my breathing changes might give me away).
Note that polygraph examiners often make (unsupported) accusations of countermeasures because of an examinee's baseline breathing pattern. If you were conscious of your breathing during the baseline, you might as well have attempted to employ breathing patterns during the controls as well. Obviously you did it well if you were not accused of attempting to “beat the box.” The key thing to remember here (both with baseline and when mimicking a reaction) is to create a gradual transition between each inhale/exhale/inhale. Think of making the slightest pause each time, like when making a "California Stop" is a vehicle. With this technique, one comes to a slight pause, but not a full enough pause to rock the vehicle on its suspension. Combined with a relatively rapid breathing rate, your polygrapher will be none the wiser.
Quote: Nearly all (99.9%) of the examiners I have talked to also feel that it is IMPOSSIBLE to pass the test using countermeasures.
Anon, if polygraphers admitted the truth with regard to countermeasures, their days of making $250/hr with a high school diploma and eight weeks of training would be over. Even if polygraphy were accurate (which it isn’t), the fact that it is easily defeated
by anyone is truly an Achilles’ heel. Polygraphers have provided absolutely no support for this type of claim. A peer-reviewed scientific study conducted with experienced examiners showed that polygraphers have no ability to detect the type of countermeasures we teach in
The Lie Behind the Lie Detector better than chance. Furthermore, Drs. Charles Honts and Drew C. Richardson, both PhD. scientists and polygraphers, have stated before the National Academy of Sciences polygraph review that examiners
cannot reliably detect sophisticated countermeasures.
If detecting countermeasures were "easy," why does the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute have a full continuing education course for advanced examiners on the topic? Furthermore, why is everything in the course classified (probably because the techniques consist of bluffing the examinee into admission)? Both with government examiners and private ones, when asked to support their claims of being able to detect countermeasures (namely, HOW IS IT DONE), refuse to talk claiming that "it’s a secret." I’m sorry, but “it’s a secret,” especially from examiners not in the government employ, just does not cut it.