In 1985, while working in a Michigan City named Sterling Heights Michigan as an electronic technician, I was falsely accused of committing a crime. I plead not-guilty, and hired a lawyer and prepared to go to court. At one point, the police requested that I agree to take a polygraph examination.  Knowing that I hadn't done anything illegal, I agreed, and went in to take the test.

I was met by an officer who introduced himself to me as Detective Paul Carey, and explained to me that he would be administering the test to me. He began by asking me a few basic questions: did I know what a polygraph machine was? What was my opinion of polygraph tests?  Would I agree to answer the questions that he would ask me honestly, etc.? I agreed to do so, and gave him a very frank answer as to what my opinion was as to polygraph examinations: there is no machine in the world that can measure one's veracity; it was junk science. But I would cooperate fully and answer all of his questions fully and truthfully.

He began by explaining that his first few questions would be basic questions that would allow him to calibrate his machine. Common things like "what is your name? Where do you live? Etc. These were all things that he had full knowledge of, as I had filled out a questionnaire when I had arrived.

After a few minutes of "where do you live, is your name... etc.", we began other questions, in tune with the subject.

When we had completed the examination, he asked:

"So, how do you think you did?"

I replied: "Well, I imagine that it'll turn out exactly as you want it to. I told you that when I walked in here.  I could take you back to my shop right now and hook you into my oscilloscope and ask you questions. And, you would see the frequency and voltage will change visibly right before your very eyes. But it would be meaningless: you cannot hook up someone to a machine and gauge whether or not he/she is telling the truth."

I could tell immediately that he didn't like what I had said at all.

I imagine that I'd get the same reaction if I had told him that he had just spilled mustard on his shirt.

So I took the initiative and asked him:

"Okay, so tell me, how did I do?"

Carey: "B^^^ (insert my first name here), the entire test shows a pattern of complete and total deception."

Me: "Complete and total deception?"

Carey: "Yes"

When I walked in there, I knew that I'd most likely would never be able to prove it, but the results of my test had already been decided before I'd even taken the test. But he had just proven it for me. So I replied:

Me: "It's complete and total deception, you say. So I guess my name isn't B^^^ ^^^^^^^, and I wasn't born in ^^^^^^^ hospital in the city of ^^^^^^^, and my parents weren't ^^^^^^^ and ^^^^^^^^, eh?

It was as if I had punched him in the gut... he visibly winced... and did so badly.

He started to reply, but the words wouldn't come out. You could almost see the file cards shuffling in his head as he tried to come up with something to counter this sudden attack of common sense and logic that I had unleashed on him.

Finally, he admitted (and I could tell that he didn't like admitting this): "Well, it might just mean that you were nervous. But I don't know why someone would be nervous."

Gee, I thought. You accuse me of a crime I didn't commit, charge me, and pretty much force me into taking a polygraph examination. And you wonder why someone would be nervous? Common sense really isn't common.

When we went to trial, I had proof, and the husband and wife were exposed as the liars that they were. I was found not guilty in something like 10 minutes.

But the polygraph test, and Detective Paul Carey were both something I remember to this day. I wonder how many times he's gotten away with stunt he tried to pull on me?

It's on Reddit....

Quote:


Mark,

I don't know what "reddit" is. Can you please explain?

Longfellow wrote on Feb 14^th, 2013 at 4:30pm:


I find this hard to believe. Those questions that you apparently 'outed' him on were just control questions. You look at the pattern that shows up when you ask people these questions of which you know for a fact they're telling the truth, and then you ask them the questions that matter and see whether the pattern stays the same (subject is still telling the truth) or spikes (subject is probably lying). Your heart could skip a beat, you could suddenly breathe heavier, start sweating a little, all those things would be monitored and show when a person is lying..although all they probably did was check your pulse because it was 30 years ago...

But anyone who administers these tests would be able to tell you that those questions you summed up are not relevant at all. Your name, city of birth, the hospital you were born in, your parents' names, they're all questions to check the pattern you're showing by telling the truth. Afterwards you'd get questions like "were you at this location around that time?" "did you commit this crime?", and if the pattern stays the same you'd be in the clear, but if the pattern suddenly changes you'd be lying. Nobody who administers these tests would 'wince badly' when a subject tells him that he was telling the truth for the control questions...that's what they're for...so yeah..I call bullshit 

You obviously have no clue as to polygraphs are supposed to work.   
Read back redditors comment until you undertand what he is saying.   
The questions about one's name, place of birth, and parents' names are control, that's the whole point.   
You ask them questions that you know for sure that they aren't lying about, now if you ask a question and they react differently, you "know" that they are lying.   
Get it? You didn't "out" shit....

redditor,

Thank you for taking the time to explain control questions to me in Dutch. Forgive me for not replying in kind. I'm an American working in The Hague. Although I can more or less read Dutch, I'm not fluent in it. I do, however, understand what you've written above.

I'm afraid you have a misapprehension with regard to control questions in polygraphy. As I mentioned earlier, questions like one's full name, place of birth, parents' name, etc. are only used as unscored irrelevant questions in polygraphy.

"Control" questions, by contrast, are not those to which a known truthful answer is given, but rather those which are designed to produce an untruthful answer. For example, a commonly used "control" question is, "Did you ever lie to a person in a postion of authority?" The polygraph interrogator will try to get the subject to answer this question "no" by suggesting that the kind of person who would lie to an authority figure is the same kind of person who would commit the crime under investigation and then lie about it to the police. But secretly, it is assumed that everyone has lied to a person in a position of authority, be it a parent, a teacher, an employer, etc. at some point in their life.

In control question test (CQT) polygraphy, reactions to such control questions are compared to reactions to the relevant questions (questions directly about the incident under investigation, for example, "Did you take that money?"). If the subject reacts more strongly to the control questions than to the relevant questions, it is inferred that the answers to the relevant questions are truthful. If, by contrast, the subject exhibits stronger reactions to the relevant questions, then deception is inferred.

You'll find CQT polygraphy explained at length, with references to primary sources you can check for yourself, in The Lie Behind the Lie Detector (which I co-authored).

@Longfellow

First I thought you recollected the events wrong, especially the part about the guy who administers the test 'badly wincing', because that simply can not be true, but I couldn't blame you because hell, it was 30 freaking years ago. After your last comment though I think you're just a douchebag looking for some attention. Ask a moderator to check my IP address and see to which country it leads to, you crappity smacking dumbass. Have a nice life.

Interesting story Longfellow. Please excuse the other redditor(s) who happen to stumble across this thread - some of us happen to be asshole idiots. Do not waste your time on them, just continue on your business and they will be gone soon.