Breathing - please help!

[Panama_Jack]

Hi!

I read TLBTLD and have a question about breathing. TLBTLD states that one should control their breathing as to take even breaths lasting 2 - 4 seconds. In this sense, it seems that one should control their breathing from the initial moment one is hooked up to the machine all the way until you are unhooked. Can one not be conscious of their breathing and only alter their breathing pattern during control questions? In other words, does one really have to be conscious of their breathing throughout the whole time they hooked up? I am concerned that I will not be able to control my breathing in a manner that will not raise any suspicion from the examiner. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[polyscam]

My understanding is as follows:  In order to apply a breathing countermeasure you must be conscious of your breathing at all times while "hooked up."  Yes you want to provide breathing variations for control questions, but you would want to maintain a consistently even pattern in all other portions.

[dr_copp]

Be aware that whether or not you are consciously controlling your breathing, or just breathing normally, the polygraph examiner may tell you that you're are breathing too slow, fast, abnormally, etc... The first couple of polygraphs I took (which I passed legitimately) the examiner told me I was breathing too slow and implied I was doing it on purpose.  However, I was just breathing normally.  This is just a ploy to try to get you to admit to using countermeasures.  

[Smokey]

I will be looking at taking the Ploygraph, I mean POLYgraph, for a LEO position sometime in the not so distant future and am concerned about my breathing.  Let me reitterate that I have nothing to hide (other than minor MJ usage as a teenager which I am, and have been, honest about).  However, I plan on using the breathing CM's (2-4 second) to avoid the risks of a false positive.  My concern here is that I am sure I won't be able to whithstand the entire poly without taking a deep breath, but I don't want that to count against me.  I know I read somewhere possible TLBTLD, that such movements as a deep breath or sneeze will be overlooked, but I just wanted to make sure.  

Thanks,

Smokey.  

[cesium_133]

On the last poly I took, I made the mistake of admitting that I was controlling my breathing.  Now, I honestly thought the guy wanted "regular" breathing, for that is what he told me to do.  The polygrapher may have been rusing me, or he may actually have had the machine on in accusing me- I don't know.  (The reason I don't know is my probation officer asked me later if the guy ran the test on me, implying he may not have or in any case did not tell him the results).

IMHO, I would have to say that breathing CM's, unless you can really convolute them and do patterns within patterns, etc, are less desirable than mental CM's.  I don't want to step on George's toes on this one, but it seems logical.

The polygrapher can always accuse you, whether he thinks you are using CM's or not.  Also, if you totally control your breathing (which I did), I would have to give the interrogator the benefit that he can make out a single-layer pattern (like a consistent amplitude -and- frequency, which I did) or a diminishing amplitude pattern followed by apnea.  Certainly, I think, he could make out a decreasing or increasing frequency pattern.  Since breathing is controllable, and the ploy (oops, poly) guy knows this, I would suggest going with something mental or otherwise invisible (which I will do).  I wouldn't take the risk of getting made.

Now, this is my sophomoric opinion and my own plan of action.  I have read TLBTLD twice, the DODPI manual, and most of this site, and that's it.  George and many of the more experienced posters here have more authority on this than do I, and if they disagree, I would defer to their views in a second...

[SadderbutWiser]

I'm interested to hear if George or anyone else has thoughts on cesium_133's idea.

[George W. Maschke]

I'm interested to hear if George or anyone else has thoughts on cesium_133's idea.

I think it's likely that employing mental countermeasures will naturally result in an accompanying breathing reaction without the examinee having to think about it. However, one should nonetheless be mindful of one's breathing to avoid breathing too slowly or too quickly, or taking deep breaths, any of which may be interpreted by a polygrapher as (admittedly unsophisticated) countermeasure attempts.

[freem40]

Looks like I will always be 2 steps behind. On questions where I was acvcused of lying, I took deppe breaths because a poly  I had taken before the guy told me everyone questing I was "lying to him" about. So naturally, going into the next polygraph, I as a normal person attempt to state the word NO with more conviction than the last time. Herein lies my problem I now understand. Also, can anyone tell me why it is that the agency I took the poly for made me close my eyes? Apparently it is SOP for this agency to do that, but being in a tiny room with a weird guy asking me sexual questions among others makes me a bit too uncomfortable having my eyes closed. At one point when we went through the questions for the second time, he had forgotten to tell me to close my eyes. We went about halfway through the test that time before he yelled at me for having my eyes open (he didnt trust me anymore because i followed his directions each time to the letter...and I could see on the Polygraph that the "red flags" were nowhere in sight when my eyes were open. What is the reasoning for this?