Marty wrote on Aug 26
th, 2003 at 7:52pm:
Most of your comment I agree with but I think this last thought demonstrates a certain jaundiced view that is likely wrong. Polygraphy "tests", like a few other psych tests, work more poorly if the subject understands the actual theory of the test. Polygraphers do what they can to obfuscate but this doesn't mean they want examinees to fail simply because they read this site.
Marty,
My expressed hope that the NSA polygraph unit would not "fail" Anonymous based on his/her having educated him-/herself about polygraphy is based on reports of such things having happened to applicants with other agencies who admitted their knowledge of polygraphy, including, but not limited to, the case of CIA applicant Maureen Lenihan, which is mentioned in
The Lie Behind the Lie Detector. It is to be hoped that with knowledge of how the "test" actually "works" (and doesn't) becoming more and more widespread (and, perhaps, admissions to such knowledge becoming less shocking to polygraphers) that such knee-jerk reactions by polygraphers will become less common.
My expressing the hope that Anonymous would not be disqualified merely for admitting his/her knowledge of polygraphy was also made in the hope that those NSA polygraphers who read this thread would realize the wrongness of such conduct and not engage in it.
Situations such as Anonymous's do pose a larger ethical question for the polygraph community: how will you handle those who understand "the lie behind the lie detector?" Former American Polygraph Association president Skip Webb
declined to answer this question when I put it to him some three years ago. It's about time the APA, which professes to be "dedicated to truth," provided a candid answer.