Questions

[fatbob]

Hello,

I was told I was deceptive on a poly last year for a local LE job.  It was quite a shocker.  I'm no angel, but I told the interrogator everything I could think of, I'm sure I missed some things, but if I left anything out it was unintentional.  He said I was deceptive about the sex related question, and I showed signs of deception dealing with drug use and use of force.  I cannot figure out why the test would show deception, I have had almost a year to dwell on this.  Now, I'm looking to apply for job, I have been a police officer for over 10 years and I never wanted to be anything else.  Most jobs descriptions say there will be a poly.  This scares me because i have had one negative experience with a poly, will I be predisposed to having another negative experience.  Do the examiner's take into account of medications you are taking.  I have high blood pressure, my doctor put me on a beta-blocker because my blood pressure can be elevated quickly by stress.  My resting heart rate is between 52-55 bpm.  Because I was unprepared for the test, I had to be reminded to breathe normally, I thought I was.  Would any of these things cause my bad poly.  I'm grasping at straws here, I need and explanation

[George W. Maschke]

Your past experience of being falsely accused of deception regarding sex crimes, drug use, and use of force will predictably tend to sensitize you to those areas of questioning and could well make a second false positive outcome more likely.

In addition, your polygraph operator will ask about any past polygraphs you've taken, and when you disclose your previous failure, that will tend to create a bias against you.

With regard to your medication, polygraph operators don't have a special set of rules for scoring the charts of those taking beta-blockers. Your charts will be scored just as they would if you weren't taking any such medication.

For an explanation of polygraph procedure and what you can do to reduce the risk of a second false positive outcome, see Chapters 3 & 4 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

[fatbob]

It seems as if I'm damned from the very beginning, anybody have positive results taking a second poly after being deemed deceptive in the first.