ODIN wrote on Dec 2
nd, 2005 at 8:12am:
Mentioning you "hit" to the control questions was your post test. He should have said you were NDI as well, the fact that he didn't is unethical.
If it was a pre-employment, a stim test is not required in a pre employment format in some cases. I can tell you, if it was your first polygraph you ever took I would have done a stim test. Then again, I belive in giving people a fair test that will benifit them not hang them.
Note: Most false positive results aren't because of the polygraph its self. It's because the examiner is not following standards, is taking shortcuts, or is otherwise lazy or unethical.
A Polygraph examination is only as good as the examiner, his pre test, insturment, and format being used.
I won't hide that I am an examiner and am proud of what I do and the good custumer service I provide.
I can honestly say that no mater how my examinee leaves my office (DI or NDI) that examinee always says "That guy bent over backwards to treat me fair". Well except for the one bonehead that read the Williams
"book". I hope he gets his money back.
I set my controls properly, there is never a single exam that lasts less than an hour and a half, and in most cases I spend more time with the real nervous examinee's.
Most of that time is spent in pretest where my goal is to set great controls for the non deceptive person, and calming the examinees so the controls work correctly as they should.
should someone fail I like to talk to them about the possibility of an outside issue that may be bothering them.
If the examiner does a piss poor job, the result will be piss poor too.
Don't lump all examiners in one group. Some of us out here are doing good work.
I would like to think I am one of them.
Two Space Shuttles blew up in my life time. Does that mean that space travel should stop?
Bad Doctors kill people every day. Does that mean we should out law the medical feild?
Cops also kill, beat and fabricate evidince everyday. Does that mean we should do away with all law enforcment?
No.
You weed out the bad ones some how or another. There are false results that do happen, but we live in a time that people with cancer and aids are misdiagnosed. It happens, but it does not mean that caring examiners don't do everything they can to make sure that our examinees don't get a fair test
ODIN,
It's a nice change to have an examiner post on this site without first pretending to be someone else and hiding his true motives. Welcome to the discussion. However, I must take issue with a portion of your post.
Your comparison of space shuttles exploding, bad docs and rogue cops to false positive polygraph results seems a bit short-sighted. I've also seen two shuttles blow up during my lifetime. However, I also remember shuttles being grounded for years, thorough investigations, intensive testing and improvements made to the space program to prevent the same mistakes from happening again.
In regards to bad docs, there are ways of dealing with them. They are licensed by medical boards that have the power to yank their licenses to practice medicine if they show a flagrant disregard for the health and safety of their patients. There are also malparactice suits that hit them where it hurts.
As far as rogue cops are concerned, their unethical behavior can be uncovered through investigations and they can be sanctioned accordingly by their departments and/or taken off the force.
How in any way do these examples compare to polygraphy? Space travel, medicine and law enforcement are all based upon valid scientific principles--well established truths. Polygraph screening has been declared invalid and unreliable by the National Academy of Sciences. There is no scientific basis for it. Even polygraph testing in criminal investigations is on shaky ground at best as their results are rarely ever admitted into court as evidence.
Secondly, in all the examples you mentioned, there are avenues for righting the wrongs when mistakes are made--ways to determine truth and punish those at fault. In polygraph testing, these do not exist. There is no viable recourse when examinees are falsely labeled liars and treated unfairly.
While I commend you for your professed sincerity in treating examinees with respect and fairness, might I remind you that not all examiners are like you. You would not be so flip about false positive results if it were your a$$ on the line.