I was told that my polygraph test was inconclusive.  Iam suppose to re-take it. Does anyone have any feed back on this?  Thanks!

neon 225,

Specifically, see The Lie Behind the Lie Detector. Chapter 3 explains polygraph procedure in detail, including what is meant by an "inconclusive" outcome. Chapter 4 includes information on how to reduce the risk of a false positive (or inconclusive) outcome.

A senior polygrapher may have scored your chart as inconclusive, even if the polygrapher who administered the examination scored it as "no deception indicated."

Another possibility is that you may be suspected of having used countermeasures, in which case you are likely to be confronted during the re-test.

NE,

No, you would not have failed based on the taking of minor office supplies. Your polygrapher's "getting mad" over your admission to taking pens and pencils was a show, a stock part of the con-artistry of the polygraph trade. The reason the polygrapher made such a big deal of your minor admissions was to steer you into a denial of having taken anything else, so that when you answered the question, "Other than what you told me, did you ever take anything that did not belong to you?" your denial would either be an outright lie or at least not completely true.

Your responses to this and other "control" questions were then compared with reactions to relevant questions.

Marty,

No doubt, some people who read The Lie Behind the Lie Detector will not absorb the material completely. We've tried to keep the language simple without being simplistic. I think the great majority of readers are not having problems understanding it. Note that the great majority (>95%) of those who download the book have not posted on this message board. Thus, what is seen here is perhaps not a good measure of our reading public's ability to grasp the material presented.

I think a site warning, such as you suggested, is unwarranted, and that it is not in anyone's interest to remain ignorant of polygraph procedure -- including the key point that polygraphy is, in essence, merely a bamboozle designed to elicit admissions/confessions.

Thanks George and Marty.  You are right by reading your book I was able to see what the the control questions but I didn't know how to handle the questions once I made my minor admissions.  The examiner said if my supervisor was aware that employees normally take supplies home than their agency can investigate this matter. THIS IS LIE RIGHT GEORGE?
He asked me have I ordered anything not needed for my job I say yes paper for scanning but I told him that I never taken anything home except pens and pencils.  Eventually the subject came to an end and he told me that he didn't believe me.  Once I was hooked up to the machine,  you know that he made this one of my control questions.  he gave me my set of three questions and the test was over.  This was my second test because I had already passed the espionage part.  So he unhooked me and as we were walking, the examiner said I had a strong response to the question about had I stole anything.  I told him that I thought he was going to rephrase the question to besides what he told me minor admissions(child, and office supplies).  But he did say he believe we got a conclusive result this time.  I guess  the examiner wanted stong responses on my control questions right????

NE,

I agree with Marty; it looks like you probably passed. However, when you told your polygrapher that you thought he was going to rephrase the question about stealing to, "Other than what you told me..." you may have tipped him off that you know more about polygraphy than you're supposed to.

Marty,

You wrote in part:

Quote:


I was speaking from the standpoint of persons facing a polygraph "test" when I wrote that I think "it is not in anyone's interest to remain ignorant of polygraph procedure -- including the key point that polygraphy is, in essence, merely a bamboozle designed to elicit admissions/confessions."

Marty,

I agree that if NE had heard the phrase "other than what you told me..." during the first question series, then it would not have been unusual for him to have mentioned that he expected the question about stealing to be rephrased.

I also agree that it seems plausible, if not likely, that the polygrapher was attempting to help NE to pass by keeping the scope of that control question open.