Hello,

I am writing with details on several polygraphs that I have passed in the last 30 days or so. I will not reveal any information that might identify me. 

The polygraphs were mandatory. Refusing to take them was not an option. 

I beat them. And I say "beat," because I had to lie on one of them. Here's how I did it.

- I read "TLBTLD" over and over again, especially chapters 3 and 4. The real breakthrough I had (and which I don't think the book or this community stresses enough) was really realizing that the polygraph is not a "lie detector." It is a reaction detector. In other words, if you're hooked up and they ask you "Was George Washington America's first President?" the machine will detect a reaction, if you give one. Reading TLBTLD over and over helped me understand that to pass, one must have greater detected reactions on "control / comparison" questions than to "relevant" questions. I know this is elementary knowledge, but it's probably the single most important thing to understand. 

- I was lucky enough to have advance notice of the polygraphs, so I practiced. I had a reasonable guess as to the format of the test (order of questions in particular). These were single-issue / related-issue tests. I will call them single-issue tests throughout this post, for ease of reading. There are a number of formats for such tests. I studied the more popular formats and read the literature on them extensively. That literature included how questions are formulated, what order questions will come, etc. So I practiced several versions, with a timer. 

- I chose to focus on mental countermeasures. I don't know what activity sensors can and can't detect, but in my own practice sessions, tongue-biting and the like just didn't seem to work. In addition, trying to employ physical pain countermeasures took away part of my focus. Plus, there is always a chance, however slight, that physical measures can be noticed. Mental countermeasures are not noticed. 

- I spent a great deal of time training my body to generate an adrenaline rush. Of course, I planned to use this rush every time I received a control question. This was not easy! Practice made perfect. It's a lot harder to scare yourself on command than you might think - especially when you're already amped up in the polygraph chair. You have to be able to crank it up on command. I spent hours training my body to respond. I took a very specific image in my mind - a first-person view of falling off a tall building, seeing the ground rush up at me, only for the ground to open up and reveal a bed of horrible metal spikes which impaled me - I took that image as my "trigger" image. I imagined the fall, the terror, and the horrific death from the spikes. It worked. My hands would get clammy, my heart would race, my breathing would change. 

- As mentioned, I did not use physical countermeasures at all. That said, there are certainly physical things I found useful, in my practice sessions. I don't really know how to describe this, but I found that while visualizing the gruesome fall above, it worked even better if I also tried to "push" my skull out of its skin. I didn't move my head or strain my neck at all - I checked in the mirror and I taped myself to make sure. But that's the best I can describe - while holding perfectly still, I tried to push my head bones forward. For whatever reason, this amplified the physical feedback from my mental countermeasure. 

- I knew I would need to calm down and produce few to no reactions on relevant questions. And old friend helped. To calm down, I pictured myself in a sunny backyard with my old friend. I created dialogue for us, running dialogue that would last 15-20 seconds. This is someone I haven't seen in a long time and miss a lot. I was happy to see them. They helped calm me down. I taught myself to look forward to relevant questions, because every time I got one, I would be seeing my friend again. I wouldn't be scared, I would be happy. 

- I practiced my breathing pattern for the test. In, out, in, out. I visualized a small, bright ball, travelling out from my mouth on my exhale, around in a small circle, and then back into my mouth on my inhale. Pleasing, calm, repettitive, easy. I practiced this breathing in the shower, in the car, in bed, at work, everywhere, until it became second nature. Once again, I followed TLBTLD, making sure I had about 15-30 respirations a minute, and that each one was more shallow than normal. 

TEST #1
Again, relying on TLBTLD, I arrived early, dressed neatly. I was polite and friendly with the polygrapher. We discussed the "single issue" I was there to be tested on. The tester was actually a genuinely friendly person. I understood that he was not there to be my friend, but it helped create a pleasant atmosphere. He explained the format of the test, and quite to my delight, it was in fact one of the formats I had practiced! Internally, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, as I now knew exactly when I would get a control question or a relevant question. 

In addition, this particular format uses control/comparison questions that are of similar nature (similar type of inquiry) to the relevant questions. Whether my good interactions with the polygrapher helped or not, he designed control questions that I actually sort feared! He was very good about discouraging admissions to these questions, and I knew enough not to clarify much, so the end result was that I wound up with a set of controls that I would genuinely be lying to. Again, I have no idea if my respectful and professional demeanor led the guy to craft "easier" questions - all I know is that it didn't hurt. 

It also helped that this test's relevant questions were ones that I was actually telling (almost all of) the truth on. So this was, in essence, a "practice run." I was still nervous, because failure would bring bad things. 

As soon as the straps went on, I went into the breathing mode I had practiced. No problem. The test began. I knew the order of the questions. I felt confident. There were no surprises. But...I was so nervous! My heart was racing. I had to focus on my breathing to keep it measured. The first control question was coming. I cleared my mind. It was asked. I pictured myself falling, horribly. I pushed at my skull. I could feel my hands moisten. I could feel my heart speed up, even faster than it was. It was working! I continued my reactions for several seconds, and then I knew I had to calm down. 

I went to the backyard with my old friend. We talked. It was sunny. It was peaceful. I interrupted our conversation to briefly answer "no" to the relevant question. Did my heart skip? Did my breath catch? Don't worry about it, I told myself - your friend is waiting. 

I passed the test. Passed easily. I was excited. My system worked! But next would come the real challenge.

TEST #2
Despite my success last time, this one scared me. On this one, it wouldn't be just a little tiny or semantic lie on the relevant questions. On this one, I would have to lie, through and through.

I was much more nervous this time. My hands shook as I drove. My heart was already racing. Nevertheless, I arrived early, and was outwardly calm. This polygrapher was different. Not nearly as friendly. However, he said he'd looked over my charts from last time. I didn't know what to make of this, but the last person passed me without a second thought, so I figured that was good. 

I was so nervous, but I remembered that I'd spent hours upon hours upon hours training for this. The test would be in the same format. I was as ready as I could possibly be. 

I realized that my heart was racing, but what was also important to realize was that it's ok if it raced - so long as it raced more on the control questions! So here we go again. I still felt much more nervous. The first time I had mostly told the truth. This time, I was not. Not even close. But I again pictured my horrible fall, and I again had time to sit and chat with my long-gone friend. I had to trust my prep. 

And at the end of the test, the polygrapher stood up, and matter-of-factly told me I had passed. 

So. This stuff works. I am living proof. But like anything in life, it takes practice, practice, practice. If I'd tried to prep the night before, I wouldn't be writing this. Only because I focused myself both on understanding what the box actually does, and how to manipulate the box, am I here talking to you. 

If you take one thing away from this, take that. It's a reaction detector. Nothing more, nothing less. So master your reactions (and I mean MASTER them), and you can pass. 

Good luck.

Dan Mangan wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 12:21am:


GuestGhost does not come across as a troll, plant, or faker to me. If his/her statement is indeed sincere, I think that for privacy reasons, it would be unwise for him/her to divulge the relevant questions asked.

Quote:

This make Aunty sad. It is an example of how a socially valuable tool or technique can also be used for nefarious purposes. 

Mr. Mangan, I am not sure what part of my post seems to you to be a troll/plant/fake. I would be interested if you could point out where my descriptions and tactics differ from what TLBTLD recommends. 

I simply wished to share my experience, and let people know that TLBTLD is excellent. I also wanted people to know that countermeasures aren't easy, and take practice. 

I will not be posting the control questions, out of an abundance of caution. If that causes you to not believe me then I guess I will just have to be ok with that. 

A few notes, though:

- These tests were single/very related issue tests. Again, there are only so many formats for such tests, and with good research, literature and information on those formats can be found. Being able to memorize those formats, and being right about the formats made the tests much easier. If I did not know what the next type of question would be, I donnot know if I could have properly geared myself mentally for countermeasures or relaxation. Part of my confidence and abilities to pass these tests came from knowing exactly what was coming when.

If this had been an FBI employment type test, I donnot know if this type of preparation would have worked, nor would I have been as confident, as those are not single issue tests.

- I cannot say enough about how important my practice was. Although it may be extremely difficult to detect some physical countermeasures, it seems actually impossible to detect mental ones. Being able to produce physical reactions based solely on mental stimulus was not easy but it was essential. 

- Aunty, I understand your disappointment. Of course I cannot go further into detail and certainly there is no way to verify this, but I had no "nefarious purposes" in the lies I had to tell.

Quote:



Speaking as a polygraph operator with over 13 years of experience, this highly unlikely scenario strikes me as pure fiction.

Maybe GuestGhost will prove me wrong.

ROTFLMAO

pailryder wrote on Sep 16^th, 2017 at 2:38pm:

I think "insulted" is much more accurate than "spooked".  If I ever submitted a post like GuestGhost's and all I got was a reaction like Dan's, I would simply not bother with the site any more, much less enter into a productive correspondence. 

Dan Mangan wrote on Sep 17^th, 2017 at 2:46am:

Possibly. But you offer no evidence for this. 

Dan Mangan wrote on Sep 17^th, 2017 at 2:46am:

Possibly. But you offer no evidence or convincing argument for this.

Dan Mangan wrote on Sep 17^th, 2017 at 2:46am:


Well said Dan – it should be noted that they prosecuted me for doing something that they had previously said was impossible for me to do - teach someone how to "beat" the "lie detector".  And, I have always maintained that if I can teach a person to "beat" it, that proves the polygraph is absolutely worthless as a "lie detector".