I had my poly test the other day.  The examiner was polite and professional and said he was above all fair.  After the pre-interview we did the stim test, which was "pick a number and say no to every question."  You don't know how much my heart sank when he could not tell which number I was lying about!  He guessed wrong twice.  So I knew I was in trouble...

On the relevant questions I did not lie, but I did on a few of the control questions.  I had hoped that that would generate enough anxiety, but he had a hard time getting a read on me.  At one point he asked if I trusted him!  After blowing the stim test what kind of question is that?!  He did many charts and the whole thing took over 3 hours.  At the end I was exhausted and had a splitting headache.

At the end he said I was border-line inconclusive, he did not believe I was a spy but had "concerns" about my drug usage.  He said headquarters would have to make a final determination.

I wonder if this was a fair test because:

1.  The room was very cold.  He actually had me walking up and down the hall rubbing my hands together to get them warmed up and my heart rate up!

2.  He told me not to take deep breathes, so I had to sort of choke out my yeses and nos.  This was not the natural way to speak for me so was I misinterpreting his directions?

3.  I was one week into a common cold.  I was not feeling too bad and was not taking any medicines, so I felt it would not be a problem.  But could this have suppressed my responses?  (I did not mention having a cold to the examiner.)

I am assuming I will get an inconclusive, and will have to take it again.  Should I tell the next guy about these concerns (do I assume it will be someone different?), and how do I avoid another inconclusive result?  I only get one more chance at this...

There goes George, pushing his junior high style "research" paper.  He calls polygaph people to account for misrepresenting their credentials but he never tells people he knows nothing about the polygraph - not in his book nor in his numerous posts advising people on what to do on their polygraphs.
He has failed one polygraph test - showing deception on EVERY relevant question.  And he has never used any of the countermeasures he advises others to use.  Just thought it might be good to hold him accountable.

Now watch the 7 dwarfs come to his defense.  I suspect Beech Trees to be first out of the box, followed closely by Skeptic.

Accountable,

Sorry to burst your bubble. I'm not one of the "7 dwarfs". But I will nonetheless defend George. In frequenting this board I have never seen George claim to be something he is not. And his book (co-authored, by the way) is thoroughly researched and well-written.
I also saw no reference in his post to polygraphers misrepresenting their credentials. So what are yours? How long have you been performing polygraphs, , and for who?