Quote: It doesn't detect lies. All it does is show what is going on inside you when your are asked and you respond to a particular question.
Every polygraph operator I dealt with claimed it detected deception. Where they lying? How do you then explain use of the phrase "deception indicated"?
Quote:But when you consistently respond to the same question many times, something is definitely going on inside you with regard to that question. Only YOU can answer what that is.
But deception is only one. There are other reasons why a person nervous system could register a "defensive" reaction. In fact, if a person had been repeatedly told he was lying on a given question
when he/she wasn't, his nervous system could just as easily react to that question. And a consistent reaction simply means he/she is consistently "reacting", whatever the underlying reason is.
Don't believe me, read the quote below from Dr. Zimbardo. Still not convinced, NAS report said the same thing about there being NO direct connection between an F3 reaction and "decption". It's just a huge supposition. That's why you need to badger, cajole or otherwise harrass the examinee until he/she gives you something you can twist, take out of context, or blow out of proportion, to prove your theory that the consistent reaction means "deception".
Quote:My point has nothing to do with the subject of countermeasures, to which this thread has detoured. It also has nothing to do with why a "false positive" is a possibility, although a very slim one. My point is that when a person gets all caught up in "this question is a comparison" and "this question is a relevant," I think they make the relevant questions MORE relevant than they would otherwise be if they had just gone through the test without worrying about all that stuff.
I think the FIRST THING a person would be well advised to do is:
Know at both conscious (through study and learning) and subconscious levels that reactions on the machine don't mean a thing. The more one learns about what the polygraph machine actually does, and it's true limitations, the less afraid of it they will be. I mention "subconscious" above because it is at that level that "reactions" are produced.
Know also, that who process is nothing more than an interrogation disguised as a test. And that the polygraph machine is just a prop.
This is just the opposite of most examinees. Most believe (mainly from the "pop" culture) that the polygraph is extremely accurate and scientific. That is the polygraph claims the machine "indicates" deception, then "shoot! there must be something I did! What the heck could it be? Better start talking!" This is JUST THE OPPOSITE way they should be thinking!