in shock

[snakeman]

I recently had a polygraph for my engineering job.

The test was focused on my illegal drug history. When I arrived to take my test I was nervous, but I had nothing to hide. I had been honest in revealing my drug history and was sure of the last time I had used it.

Before I was wired up the examiner asked me the last time I had used and I told him the exact date. He responed by saying "that isn't what you told your background examiner." It kind of confused me, but I was sure of the last time I had used, and was sure of what I told my examiner. He made a few more references to this as the pre-interview took place. He kept saying, "I want you to make sure of the last time you had used."

During the test, I was real nervous but answered the questions honestly. When the test was done, he sat in front of me and told me that I was not passing, and I was having trouble with the questions about the last time I had used.
For about twenty minutes he tried to get me to confess to something that I hadn't done. He kept saying to confess and we would start the test over. I was in shock, but I continued to tell him that there was nothing to confess. He kept leaving the room saying he would have to talk to his supervisor. He sent me to lunch and told me he would talk to his supervisor to see what could be done.

I showed up after lunch, and he had come up with some new questions. He said that after looking at the results more closely they weren't as bad as he first thought. But he said he had noticed I was having trouble with some other questions. I was totally confused, and still very upset. The second time I took the test I was so nervous and I feel like my brain was going 1000 miles an hour. After the second test, he left the room for quite awhile. When he returned he said that would be it for the day. I asked him what the results were and he said that they were going to just send them on.

I have heard that examiners try to mess with you. It this normal?




 

[George W. Maschke]

snakeman,

The whole point of polygraphic interrogation is to obtain admissions/confessions. The "test" itself has no scientific basis and has no diagnostic value (although agencies that rely on it pretend that it does).

See Chapter 3 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector for further reading about how the procedure really "works." At this point, I recommend that you also review the grievance procedures outlined in Chapter 5 and start keeping records. You may need them.

You'll also be interested in the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute Interview and Interrogation Handbook (5.2 mb PDF) and the polygraph statement of "False +" who had an experience similar to yours. (If you would be interested in making a formal statement about your polygraph experience, contact info@antipolygraph.org.)