Beech,
Turn off "the challenge" - like time clock. I haven't responded because I have a life and don't visit this site religiously.
First of all, your "conclusions" are a bit over-reaching if you wish to attribute them to what I wrote. Enough said.
And to answer your question
Quote:Would you mind listing all of the psychological, emotional, and physical conditions that would preclude a scientifically accurate polygraph test from taking place, and from what source or sources you draw this information?
:
Instead of listing specific disorders, I will give you the standards I apply to determining suitability.
Psychological disorders: The main standard in reference to mental health would be, "does the person know what is reality and what is not?" . Can the person differentiate between what is truthful and what is not truthful? Can the person recall the period of time in question? And, is the person medicated to the point of being unable to meet the above criteria.
Obviously a person who can not distinguish reality, is unfit for examination. In the screeening world, such a disorder would likely disualify an applicant. However, persons under the care of a psychology professional often become suspects of criminal investigations. Evaluating sutiability might include coordination with the caregiver (consent of subject is usuaully necessary). Inability to determine for sure if the person meets the criteria, while there is reason to believe he may not, would be sufficient to cause me to refrain from running the exam.
Physical Conditions: Two criteria--
Ensuriing the process of examination is not life-threatening (or would not exacerbate the condition) would be my primary concern. Obviously the stress of an examination could be detrimental to someone in a severely weakened or vulnerable condition. Secondly, ensuring the physical condition does not affect the collected data to the point that a conclusive determination could not be made. Obviously there are numerous ailments which could cause problems in both areas, especially cardiovascualr or respriatory disease. A disorder such as MS could cause dysfunction in the correlation of psychological stimulus (question) to physiological response. Severity of the condition, and it's effect on this individual, is the key. Again coordination with caregiver may be necessary. And, the Acquaintance test can be used to gauge the effect on tracings (and this site says it's just part of some ruse!). Of course, I'd also apply the reality criterion here as well -- a physical ailment (such as head injury, stroke, etc) could cause symptoms similar to that of psychological ailments.
Lastly, emotional condition: Obviously some emotional conditions can elevate to the need for psychological care. For that, see the above paragraph on psych. condition. In addition, I would never conduct an exam on a person who is overly angry or distraught. If possible, I would try to get the person back into a calm state before trying to conduct the exam. If necessary, I could re-schedule. This could be for an outside issue (ie illness/death of a family member, sudden loss of job, etc) or for emotion attached to the issue at hand (ie a person just confessed to an offense, or part of an offense, is now distraught, possibly crying, but there are more issues to be tested). If a person is the suspect of the murder/serious injury of a loved one, the exam should be conducted after a resonable time for a reasonable person to grieve or obtain closure. Gauging of emotional suitability is obviously an ongoing process throughout the exam.
I did not list specific conditions, because no specific condition automatically renders a person suitable or unsuitable for examination. It is a combination of training and common sense; and is an ongoing process throughout an examination.
As for sources; I am a
public servant. I have no authority to release such information. You and George are obviously skilled at FOIA requests. The info I provide is my personal, unofficial take on the issues presented.
Beech, I can only surmise that your motives for requesting a listing of conditions which would preclude one from taking an exam, include avoiding further exams. Perhaps with your delusions of self importance, you could convince a psychology professional to assert that you do not meet the reality criterion. Or perhaps you could make a show of emotion with belligerence or crying -- you're quite good at both!!
Regards.
Public Servant