took poly for pre employment for police agency PLEASE HELP!

[dontknow]

Hello this is my first post i took a poly for a police agency i am looking for opinions to ease my mind. i do not know if i past yet or not. i went in took the pre interview then we started i did not really use counter measures as i dont think i was lyeing although when i left i wasnt sure because she made me feel like i might have and not even known it. i took the test and the first one she said i was breething to slow and i needed to breeth normally so i said ok and explained to her that i was just trying to ease my nerves. anyway she ran for tests all together not one time did she say that i reacted to any question when we finished there was no post interview or anything she said ok we are done and i said ok thank you for your time and i left. can anyone help and give me there opinion on what happened did i pass or fail?

[George W. Maschke]

Based on the absence of any post-test interrogation or accusation of deception, it seems likely that you passed, or that at worst, the outcome might have been deemed inconclusive.

[dontknow]

if it is deemed inconclusive what does that mean for job prospect and thank you for your opinion sir

[WJ]

You might have passed but you also might be called to take it again.  When I took my poly I was told once to "stop thinking about your breathing" once.  I used counter measures and passed.  Polygraphs are jokes....a sick joke.

[George W. Maschke]

if it is deemed inconclusive what does that mean for job prospect and thank you for your opinion sir

Typically, law enforcement agencies will ask examinees with inconclusive polygraph results to return for a follow-up session, and the applicant will not proceed further in the hiring process unless and until he/she passes the polygraph.

[nopolycop]

if it is deemed inconclusive what does that mean for job prospect and thank you for your opinion sir

Typically, law enforcement agencies will ask examinees with inconclusive polygraph results to return for a follow-up session, and the applicant will not proceed further in the hiring process unless and until he/she passes the polygraph.

George:

Why do you use the term "pass?"  How can one "pass" an opinion?

[nomegusto]

Back from vacation.
Based on your statement. Hmmm, well I dont know what to think. Normally, your polygrapher will tell you whether you passed or you failed.
How do you not know if you lied or told the truth?
You didn't really use a countermeasure?
I'm gonna take a stab, and say you might NOT have passed. Reading your post, with your excellent grammar and spelling.  8-) But, I'm not a polygrapher, and well I didn't examine ya. Good Luck...

[T.M. Cullen]

Gee, I thought polygraph tests were "scientific".  What difference does it make how you breath?  Or whether you're "Thinking about your breathing".

Maybe you should think about "a piece of liver" like in the movie Portnoy's complaint!

[EJohnson]

Try moving your leg around when someone is attempting a CT Scan. Childish non-compliance, easily detected, and easily remedied.

[Sergeant1107]

Try moving your leg around when someone is attempting a CT Scan. Childish non-compliance, easily detected, and easily remedied.

Try thinking about something else during a CT scan.  See if the doctor claims you are being purposefully noncompliant.

There is no way of ever knowing what a test subject is thinking, so any test that requires them to think of a certain thing, or not to think of certain things, cannot possibly be a valid scientific test.

Failing everyone suspected of inappropriate thinking is the only recourse, and that is simply untenable.

[nomegusto]

However, I'm still wondering about the validity of the first post. It seems to far fetched for me. Why do you need help after the fact?

[EJohnson]

Try moving your leg around when someone is attempting a CT Scan. Childish non-compliance, easily detected, and easily remedied.

Try thinking about something else during a CT scan.  See if the doctor claims you are being purposefully noncompliant.

There is no way of ever knowing what a test subject is thinking, so any test that requires them to think of a certain thing, or not to think of certain things, cannot possibly be a valid scientific test.

Failing everyone suspected of inappropriate thinking is the only recourse, and that is simply untenable.

Perhaps a better analogy would be for a person subjected to a P300 brainwave scan. When a person is asked to recall soemthing in order to view psychological and physiological responses, then keeping your brain on task is quite relevant. Again you split hairs. You canot seem  to get around the fact that there is virtually no other sort of test like polygraph. It just trips you up, having too many caveats. When I attempt to fully understand the MMPI variations, I too have more questions than absolute comprehension. In the end, it is the dreaded Bayesian statistics that are the proofs. Understanding the precise mechanisms of polygraph is like understanding how broadcast television works. Sure, I know that multiple moving pictures are scattered into microscopic pieces and sent through the air, but that knowledge doesn't remedy my "huh's?" Polygraph and the MMPI all just "work" with far better than chance accuracy.

[skip.webb]

When one takes a hearing test, one is asked to press a button when a sound is first heard or hold the button down, releasing it when the sound goes away.  This is done at varying frequencies to determine hearing loss.  Such a test requires attention and concentration on the part of the examinee to be as accurate as possible.  If one wanted to defeat the efficacy of the test then one might "think of something else" rather than paying full attention.  I suppose that the hearing test should be scrapped as unscientific as it requires active mental participation and cooperation on the part of the person being tested.

Vision tests require the examinee to report whether one degree of magnification is clearer than another until the optimal lens magnification is discovered. If the examinee fails to concentrate or decides to "think about something else" rather than follow the instructions given, he might walk of the examination wearing "coke bottle" lenses and tripping over his own feet.  Guess we should scrap that unscientific examination as well.

[nopolycop]

Both of these analogies require an active response though by the testee, and neither purport to read a person's thoughts.  The polygraph purports to be able to tell what a person is thinking, and doesn't require an active response.  Apples and oranges.

[EJohnson]

Ahem! My P300 analogy was very appropriate. Google "P300 Brain waves." Also, read the famous 1851 novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.