So I took my Polygraph test today, I also have another one in two days. I was brutally honest with the guy giving the test, and I told him the complete truth. I lied about nothing.

Frequently during the test, he'd release the arm-cuff and say we were taking a break, but the rest of the machine was working (breathing, neurological responses, etc.).

When the test was over, he asked what kind of martial arts I was into (I explained in my pre-interview when he asked about fighting, that the only fights I have gotten into were controlled ones for martial arts, sparring). 

Immediately, he started getting extremely adversarial with me. He started saying how some martial artists are fakes and phonies and garbage like that, and he accused me of controlling my breathing. He showed me my charts, how during the test my breathing stayed consistent, but when I released the arm-cuff and the questioning stopped, my amplitude(?) increased. The questioning started again and my breathing went back to normal.

He started saying how people who are controlling their breathing on purpose are trying to hide things, and kept asking me what I have to hide.

I admitted, yes, I was controlling my breathing. I was nervous, I wanted to remain calm. Then he proceeded to show me some lady's polygraph test (which I didn't understand anything of what it looked like,) who wasn't lying and what the breathing looked like. Was he just trying to extract a confession out of me? I didn't confess anything, because there simply was nothing that I was hiding! He said he'd look over it again (he was basically yelling at me the whole time, trying to be intimidating and not letting me get a word in), but he never directly told me that I passed or failed. I am confused and I have no idea what to think. He never pointed any specific questions out or anything. He also said that I shouldn't control my breathing on the next polygraph test, but he's not going to call the other guy and tell him. This is very discouraging as I have a polygraph test in two days for a department that will hire me for sure, if I pass. Please help.

Zending,

As a polygrapher, I can tell you that the examiner was in fact trying to figure you out. For many polygraphers, any little thing that they don't understand is a possible countermeasure. But for polygraphers who really know what they are doing, it is common knowledge that an examinee's breathing is going to change at least somewhat between how it is during data collection and how it is between question sets. One of two things typically happens when the date collection begins: either the examinee will breathe more slowly because he or she is simply trying to relax during a nervewracking period, or the examinee will breathe more quickly because he or she doesn't know how to relax, and the nervewracking period accelerates the breathing. Once the data collection is over, the breathing typically goes back to the way it was previously. This is normal. Some examiners, however, will keep harping on the examinee that his or her breathing isn't right, thereby causing the examinee to focus so much on the breathing, that the focus on the breathing takes away from the focus being where it should be, which is on the questions.

For experienced examiners, it is only when the breathing pattern is just too good to be true, consistently throughout the exam, just on the control questions, that red flags are raised.

My advice to you is don't read The Lie Behind the Lie Detector and then attempt to manipulate your breathing on the control questions. Just do what you always do when you try to relax without focusing on it too much.  Easy for me to say now that the examiner has made you self-conscious about your breathing, and George has made you think you have to manipulate it through countermeasures. If you have nothing serious to hide, chances are very good that you will pass the exam, despite what some people on this forum would have you believe. Sure, because the polygraph is not 100% accurate, there is the very slim possibility that a truthful person might run into problems during an exam. But don't let a few polygraph failures on this forum convince you that this is a very common occurrence.  Also don't let an examiner who may have good intentions put your focus on one physiological function that any good examiner knows is the least diagnostic of all the physiological channels being monitored.

Good luck on your exam.

Hey, guys. I wanna thank you all for you quick responses. I'm not sure if I passed or not, I was just looking for some re-assurance. This whole ordeal was a traumatizing experience and this next test I have is giving me doubts. I guess I'll just do the same thing with the next test as I did with this one. I really need this job, and I've always wanted to be a police officer so this whole experience has rattled my cage a little bit.