anti- wrote on Aug 29
th, 2010 at 12:13am:
I know that the following questions have probably been answered many times before, but I will ask them again just to be clear. If a polygraph test taker is asked a control question such as "have you ever told a lie", in addition to exaggerating his physiological responses, is the test taker better off being truthful or deceptive? Will a truthful response preceded by some drama such as apparent hesitation to make an embarrassing/damning confession, combined with exaggerated physiological responses during the deliberation period, decrease the likelihood that the test taker receive a false positive result?
First, I note that your question is not related to the original topic (the Yes Test), but rather to CQT polygraphy in general. It would have been better to have posted your question to a new message thread.
In response to control questions, one should provide the
expected answer. Whether that answer is truthful or not is immaterial.
If you answer the probable-lie control question, "Did you ever lie to get out of trouble?" with a truthful "yes," then the polygraph operator will question you about the lies you have told to get out of trouble and move to exclude them from the scope of the question: "Other than what you told me, did you ever lie to get out of trouble?" If you again answer "yes," you'll be questioned more until you finally answer the quesion with the expected answer, "no."
The questions (and the examinee's answers) are all reviewed during the pre-test phase, before the examinee is connected to the polygraph instrument.