No! The way I understand it is you need to employ countermeasures to any question that you want to lie to. I hope this helps.

Anonymous,

Physiological responses should be augmented only to the "control" questions. Similarly, one's baseline breathing pattern should only be departed from when answering the "control" questions. Note that increasing one's breathing rate is only one of several possible techniques that can be employed.

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Anonymous, thanks for your kind words.  Just remember that it's not the machine that lacks integrity. The integrity problem lies within those who operate the device and represent polygraphy as a reliable measure of truthfulness.    

Quite simply, polygraph procedure depends on the examiner lying to and deceiving the examinee.  Even the most ethical examiners must somehow rationalize this deception to themselves.

In addition to the procedure itself being deceptive, a substantial amount of polygraph examiner behavior outside of the "test" room calls integrity into question.  Some examples  include bogus claims of high 90th percentile accuracy, (unsupported) claims that countermeasures can easily be detected, and examiners conducting "tests" for agencies that use them as a sole determinant, despite statements from current and past American Polygraph Association presidents that polygraph results are not/should not be used in this manner.

Best of luck, and as the "test" nears, do not hesitate to ask further questions.

I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming Polygraph.  I also believe that you should only stick to the "anal squeeze" method and  only squeeze slightly at that. I really do not recommend distorting your breathing patterns as it is very easy for us to screw that up and set off little bells inside the examiners head leading him to believe that you are trying to use countermeasures.  Think of it this way when you LIE to someone do you really ever notice your breathing pattern change all that much, maybe just slightly?  I really don't, but I sure as heck do feel my heart Pump like its going to come out of my chest.   
*the most important thing you have to work on is distinguishing the control questions from the relevant and irrelevant.  Read that chapter over and over.
Once again good luck.
And Never ever ever make any admissions during the post test interview.

[quote author=anonymous link=board=Proc&num=997397432&start=0#8 date=08/15/01 at 20:46:02]
Do they put control questions in the background questionnare?  "Have you ever taken something from an employer worth $5.00 or more?"  Well, I have aquired things from an employer like paper, pens, and other small things.  And yes, these items add up to over $5.00.  So I am wondering if the Polygrapher will take this and say, "Other than what you have told me, have you........." COuld this be a control question?  

In the BI questionnaires I am familiar with, they don't purposely put "control" questions in. The questionnaire is used to provide you the opportunity to tell all there is to tell about yourself and any infractions you may have committed. The example question you listed: "Have you ever taken something from an employer worth $5.00 or more?" Does not suggest you combine the value of everything you have taken, but consider each item's value singularily and then only list those of five dollars or more. 

The second part of your question: So I am wondering if the Polygrapher will take this and say, "Other than what you have told me, have you........." COuld this be a control question?  In the format you listed, this is a relevant question. The polygrapher is trying to verify if you have been truthful about having listed all the items you have taken from an employer and are not holding anything back. (The polygrapher does this because he believes the technique actually works. Even though you and I don't believe it does, you have to play along. Use countermeasures as discussed in George and Gino's book, you'll do fine).  I hope this helps. Other opinions out there?

[quote author=George Maschke 
My understanding of pre-polygraph questionnaires is that they do not recessarily include "control" questions per se, but that they can help the polygrapher in choosing which "control" questions to use.
[/quote]

George, you are correct. Anything the applicant provides during the background/hiring process prior to the polygraph can be material used to formulate control questions.


"Other than what you stated in your pre-polygraph questionnaire, did you ever take anything of value from an employer?" Your example is a relevant question, though a weak one. Control questions must be "time barred" in some manner and deal with a topic similar in nature, but diminished in intensity, to the issue to be asked in the relevant question. An example of the control might be "Prior to your 23rd birthday (applicant age 26) did you take anything of value from a place you worked without permission?" The relevant question above would be much stronger like this "Other than what you stated in your pre-polygraph questionnaire, did you ever steal anything from any of your employers?" This allegedly eliminates the possibility of more rationalization on the part of examinee. The word "steal" is much stronger as it evokes a greater emotional response.  Your thoughts?

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Pseudo Relevant,

My understanding of the rationale for the use of time bars is that they serve to logically separate the scope of a "control" question from that of the relevant question to which it is being compared. For example, if a 28-year-old subject is being administered a polygraph interrogation about a shooting death that occured in the past 24 hours, then for comparison purposes against the relevant question, "Did you shoot John?" the following "control" question might be used:

"During the first 27 years of your life, did you ever intentionally hurt  someone?"

The time bar "during the first 27 years of your life" serves to exclude the incident under investigation from the scope of the "control" question.

But in a screening context, there is no specific incident (known to have occured) under investigation, and the rationale for applying a time bar to "control" questions here is not clear to me. My understanding is that federal agencies generally do not apply time bars to "control" questions in polygraph screening.