I spent a week reading and re-reading Chapters 3 and 4; practiced my breathing and even recorded test questions and "answered" them. The big day came today and I failed the test, miserably according to the poligrapher, who was a complete a------ from the start. After hooking me up and watching my breathing, he shut the machine off and went in to a tirade that I was purposely manipulating steady breathing which was not normal. I feel that sealed my fate with this jerk right off the bat; I wanted to look at the specific questions I missed and he said I'd have to pay additional $10 for that (the damn thing already cost $350). I used the proper CMs on the CQ's and the RQ's but to no avail I guess. The only conclusion of this is that this was, as they called it, a clinical polygraph, for which they can judge what kind of treatment I need, which of course means more $$ in their pockets.

He wanted an extra $10 to let you look at the charts?  That sounds completely pathetic.

Sounds like a fraud to me.

This was from a misdemeanor sex offense indecent exposure,I am on probation for a year and as required in Illinois to be part of the sex offender assessment (like other states) you have to submit to the polygraph. I was told this was a "clinical" polygraph to determine the amount of "treatment" I would need. What I'm scared of is how this (failing the first test) would affect my probation.

Thanks for the insight. I think I got mixed up totally with what seemed like so many relavant questions, but I do think the polygrapher's  decision was made to fail me when he accused me of manipulating my breathing from the onset. There was also a series of what he called silent questions,, he read out the questions to me and I was to answer them silently in my head and not out loud, something I havent read about here. I'd like to note that in the Ill. code  that you were most kind to give a link to does state that  in completion of sex offender treatment, a failed polygraph cannot be used to make the sole decision to consider the offender's program completion status.

Is that then the only case they use the silent answer test, that is if they think you are using countermeasures?

Forgive my ignorance, but why would anyone ever fail a silent test?  Couldn't they just "think" the correct answer, be it incriminating or not, and thus show no reaction?

Spark:

From your angry tone and bitterness, it's quite obvious that you are one of the many polygraph examiners who are threatened by George and this site. We all understand-- I mean, it is screwing with your livelihood, after all.

Name one spy who has been caught by the polygraph.

Sergeant:

It's pretty obvious that the polygraph community is very threatened by the existence of this site and the information it contains. Funny thing is, some examiners who post on this board contend countermeasures don't work while others say George is giving out information that will help the guilty go free in criminal investigations. Polygraph examiners are paranoid about this site and it seems they are helping to spread the word of its existence. I would never have known about it if it weren't for two federal polygraph examiners--thanks guys! Way to get the word out! 

Now, I do my best to educate everyone I come in contact with about the polygraph being a complete joke and advise them to never submit to one under any circumstances. If the polygraph's scientific invalidity becomes well-known and everyone finds out about the lie behind the lie detector, they would eventually become obsolete. 

I work in a profession that receives its fair share of criticism. However, I know there is truth and validity to what I do for a living (although it's far from perfect) just as you do in your job as a crash scene reconstructionist. The polygraph community's hostility probably comes from the simple fact that deep down, though they would never admit it, they know there is no validity to the test. I fully understand that polys can be useful in criminal investigations and that some cases would go unsolved if not for the poly. However, it's not the poly that results in the confessions, it's the false belief that it works. The polygraph is an utterly useless tool, unless the examinee is willing to give up information.