Long time reader short time poster. I work in the criminal justice field and teach college classes. In one of my classes on serial killers a student brought up a technique that he said he saw online that a serial killer admitted to using. He said the technique was when your being asked a question to think of another questions that you can answer like If the tester is asking you if you ever sold drugs and you want to answer no just think of another question like are you a monkey and says NO when the tester finishes their question. Does this work? I've seen online some say yes and some say no. Thoughts?

glsman wrote on May 16^th, 2022 at 12:17pm:


I am going to say that it could work.  Someone once confessed to me that they beat a polygraph this way.  They were suspected of stealing, which they did, but learned from some other random website how to trick the poly and they beat it. Polygraphers are looking for physiological reactions to relevant questions.  If you can avoid reacting to a relevant question, you can avoid suspicion.  This is true whether you use one of the countermeasures in TLBTLD or something else.  Polygraphers are not mind readers so if you can prevent yourself from increasing your heart rate, blood pressure, or sweating, which are three of the things that the polygraph instrument monitors, then you have a chance to beat it.  The countermeasures in TLBTLD book work very well, but so do other techniques like asking yourself other questions during the relevant questions.  The key is not to register a significant physiological response during your polygraph on the same relevant question, which will be asked multiple times maybe in different ways.

Another technique that works is to prepare by asking yourself over and over, at your home, the question that you don't want to hear.  This could be, "Did you kill that guy?"  Or whatever relevant question that you are guilty of.  Once you know this is your weakness, learn to expect this question, and just relax and imagine yourself on a tropical island smoking a cigar with a drink and relaxed.  Train yourself to relax at this question and all others.  Understand that polygraphers do not know what you did and they want you to tell them.  Learn to keep calm, relax in the poly knowing that the polygraphers don't have a clue, and then when this relevant question comes up, you won't react.

Remember, learn to not react on relevant questions.  There is no need to.  Polygraphers are just digging for a confession.  They have no idea how many drugs you did, how many people you killed, or anything else.  They will try to scare you with evidence and tell you that you are lying but it is all a silly game that you should laugh at.  Expect the polygrapher to call you a liar at some point.  You can respond by calling them a liar for calling you a liar!