Of course, sackett will not answer these simple, straightforward  questions.

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No.  The purpose is to get a gullible person to "open up" and provide info that can be used against him/her.  The polygraph is just a "prop".

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No.  Not according to the scientific community.  A response by the ANS to a question does not necessarily equate to deception.

Furthermore, you can "fake" an ANS response by puckering yer anus, biting your tongue, or altering your breathing pattern.

I had fun with a polygrapher once.  He told me the standard polygrapher lie that the test was 98% accurate.  When asked the question "is your name xxxxx", I puckered my anus, bit my tongue and altered my breathing slightly.

He stopped the tape, and asked me why I would react to such a question.  I said I wasn't reacting.  He persisted, so I pulled out my I.D. and said "Look!  My name is xxxxx!  Want to see my birth certificate?  What a joke!  This test is 98% accurate?  What a joke!"

His faced turned a sickening shade of red, and he left the room!  Of course I failed, but they were going to fail me anyway.

It's a long story.  It was for a preemployment test.  I was first tested at the agency as part of the preemployment process.  Three days of polytesting with the usual shennanigans, ended up with me ripping of the chest straps and me telling me what I thought about their voodoo ritual with some pretty salty language (I don't recommend others do that!).

To my great surprise, 6 months later I get a call from HR asking if I'd like to take the test again!

A few phone calls to my contacts at the agency, and I found out that the "hiring committee" and security were having a big "pissing contest" over me.  My contact told me that security was just going "through the motions" to satisfy the HR/OPS people and retest me.  They probably had no intention of passing me, and were out for blood, because I had made one of their precious polygrapher babes look bad.  I had insulted the "high priesthood"!

So, I decided to have some fun.

Still waiting for a response from you in the "Trimbarco" thread (reply #37)

Guess you're only good for short little quips.

It may only be part of the process, but if you get anything short of a "pass", you not likely to get hired.  And if you get a "fail", which you can get without being deceptive, you sure as hell ain't getting hired.

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Not as good?  No it isn't.  The specific issue test will provide results "well above chance, though well below perfection", as for the preemployment test:

"For each spy or terrorist that might be correctly identified as deceptive would be accompanied by at least hundreds of nondeceptive examinees mislabeled as deceptive"NAS Report

Doesn't sound like a very "valuable" test.  I suppose I could eliminate all the weeds in my garden by dousing it with kerosene, but many of the flowers would die also!  But hey, such a process would have SOME value.

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So then the best advice is DON'T make a confession or admission, no matter how small you think it is.  It will be used against you, and you at least have some chance of being hired with a DI w/o c/o as it's hardly ever used as the sole criterion for hiring!

And "deception indicated" is a misnomer, as you really don't know if they are being deceptive, you may suspect it, but you really don't know.

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You, a polygrapher who makes his living off the test, say false positives are a rare occasion.

Yet again, aprestigious body of scientific researchers reviewed findings on the subject and concluded there are hundreds of false positives for every spy or would be spy possibly caught.

Add to that my personal experience with the test, and my wife, and many other people I've talked to over the years.....think I disagree with your "rare occasion" estimate.

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Your statement above is an understatement.   

The NAS concluded the specific issue test is "...well below perfection"   

IOW, it's not anywhere near perfection.

So significantly better than a coin flip, but far from perfect (in at it's BEST), yet likely to smear the reputation of hundreds of people for each would be spy or security violator it catches.

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My favorite:  "Living well is the best revenge."

But that is neither here nor there.

The purpose of this board, contrary to what polygraphers would have you believe, is to educate people WHO HAVE YET TO TAKE THE TEST.  So they don't get scammed.  That is a positive thing.

If a soon to be tested applicant reads GM's book, it will level the playing field a bit.  Like educating oneself prior to visiting a used car lot or dealership.

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