What are your thoughts on the identification of the "control" questions in the standard police pre-employment polygraph examination.  The following is a list of standard pre-employment questions that have been taken from "Deadly Mistakes Police Applicants Make" by Paul Patti:

1. Did you tell the complete truth on your job
application?
2. Have you deliberately withheld information from
your job application?
3. Have you ever been fired from a job?
4. Are you seeking a permanent position with this
police department?
5. Since the age of 12 have you committed an
undetected crime?
6. Since the age of 12 have you been convicted of a
crime?
7. During the past 5 years, have you used marijuana?
8. Have you used any other narcotic illegally in the
past 5 years?
9. Have you sold marijuana or other narcotics
illegally in the past 10 years?
10. Have you ever stolen more than $20.00 worth of
merchandise in any one year from any of your
employers?
11. Have you even stolen more than $10.00 in moneys
in any one year from any of your employers?
12. Have you ever used a system to cheat one of your
employers?
13. Have you ever had your driver’s license suspended
or revoked?
14. Have you had any traffic citations in the past
five (5) years?
15. Are you seeking a job with this police department
for any reason other than legitimate employment?
16. Have you deliberately lied to any of these
questions?

Which of these are "control" questions?

I'm having trouble recognizing control questions, i thought a couple in the above list to be control questions?

Godzilla wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2001 at 3:14am:


No, these are all relevant questions. Control questions using the "time bar" are designed to exclude the period of time they are really seeking information about. Question 5 has a time factor in it, but it is inclusive of the present time.  Example, question #5 starts "since your 12th Birthday have you...". They are asking you a relevant question to ensure you have told them about every undetected crime you have been involved in after your 12th birthday to the present. The same thing for #10 and #11. They include the present time. "Any one year" can and does include this year and any other year since your birth to this day, this minute, this second.  A control question "time bar" will exclude the present. A basic example is this. Let's say you are 26 years old. A likely control question would be like " prior to your 23rd birthday, did you ever take anything from your employer without permission?" That leaves a three year period of time from your 23rd birthday to the present not included in the question. Most likely that remaining three year period will be fired at you in a more direct and threatening relevant question. Control questions can be complex, and what I listed is very basic. I hope this helps, if not we'll work on it some more.

Quote:


What is the basis of your understanding that only relevant questions might be asked?

CalifMike,

Please note that 911jobforums.com is highly censored.  This is a for-profit forum that makes its money by selling advertising to the chiefs of various law enforcement agencies.  Any posts exposing the trickery behind polygraph "testing" or mentioning any website that does are quickly deleted and the poster banned.

For the most part, the only advice that they let stand to those who post on upcoming polygraphs is "relax, tell the truth, and you will be fine."  As readers of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector know, this advice, while well-intentioned, is just not correct.

Relaxing often leads to slow breathing, which is frequently wrongly interpreted by polygraphers as an attempt to beat the "test."  Furthermore, telling the truth is no guarantee of passing.  In actuality, you have to lie on certain questions (the "control" questions) to pass.  This results on a large percentage of the most conscientious applicants "failing."

Because of the extensive censorship, I suggest taking any advice you receive at 911jobforums.com with a grain of salt.