I am a pro-America, pro-police, anti ACLU kind of person.  However, after recently taking the polygraph test, I'm most concerned about law enforcement in America.  How can anyone of reasonable intelligence believe this test has any value?  I was lied to on six different occassions during the exam.  I received an hour of disinformation before the test began.  Then I was told the machine could measure "brain waves" and "know exactly what you're thinking".  I was so close to laughing.  Sadly, I only passed after I figured that the examiner wanted me to lie on control questions that I was hammered on.  Yes, I passed and deserved to as I was hiding nothing.  Yet it took lying on control questions to pass as my readings were at first inconclusive.   
Its a tough spot. One must do something to screen law enforcement people.  Yet this test is scary as I can see how practice could make a criminal or spy or other bad person pass easily.  I hope some other psycological test can be invented.   
I have nothing against my examiner as I believe he wanted me to pass and was trying very hard to see if I had an admissions to make to him to protect his agency, which of course I did not.
We need a better way!!!!!!

concerned wrote on Aug 20^th, 2004 at 8:30pm:


Congratulations "concerned."

If you could would you tell us what polygraph knowledge you had prior to the test. Also, did you at first answer the controls with a "yes"?  I don't quite understand how you handled the control Q's both before and after you reaized you were expected to "lie."

-Marty