The Relevant Issue
http://www.polygraphplace.com

Issue #117 - February 12, 2005

Relevant Issue Archives:
http://www.polygraphplace.com/articles

____________________________________________________________

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. EDITORIAL: "Why I failed my Polygraph Test...continued
and New Survey Results"

2 POLYGRAPH TRUE STORIES: "The Proverbial Tack in the
Shoe Really Does Hurt" by Thomas Ivey

3. IN THE FORUMS:

PUBLIC FORUM: "Should there be concern if you are
asked to retake a poly?

EXAMINERS ONLY FORUM: "I have a request to polygraph
a person who is deaf. Any ideas?"

There are now 138 examiners registered to use the
private forum.

4. FEATURE ARTICLE: "Brain scanner is a lie detector"
as originally printed in the BBC News

5. UPCOMING SEMINARS: Is your state association having
a seminar anytime in the year 2005?
Please send me the details so we can let everyone
know.

NEW MEXICO POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION March 2005
COLORADO ASSOCIATION POLYGRAPH May 2005
MISSOURI POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION Aug/Sept 2005
NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHISTS September 2005
ALABAMA POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION Oct/Nov 2005

____________________________________________________________

1. EDITORIAL: "Why I failed my Polygraph Test...continued
and New Survey Results"

I got some great responses that are shared below. I'm
still looking for more. I know they are out there so
take a minute and email me the best responses you've
heard after someone failed your polygraph test.

Email to support@polygraphplace.com or simply hit reply
to this email.

'Why I failed my polygraph test' responses in no
particular order...

1. I couldn't have failed the test, I lied on another
polygraph test and passed it. (turns out it was
a control question on the previous test)

2. "Maybe I was just fantasizing about her" (after
failing an infidelity test)

3. I know I did it, I just wanted to see how it
worked. (my personal favorite so far)

4. "I was the one who demanded this pornographic test"

5. "What ya mean I flunked, how would you like to
wear that computer of yours for a hat"

6. (after being told their were only straight lines
on her polygraph test) "I was so nervous I took
two of my husband's valium."

Send more 'failed test responses' to me at:
support@polygraphplace.com or just hit reply to this
email.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Current Survey on the Polygraph Place has generated
over 2,200 responses. Question asked was...

How accurate do you believe the polygraph to be?

POSSIBLE VOTES PERCENTILE
ANSWERS
90% to 100% 608 27.29 %
80% to 89% 410 18.40 %
70% to 79% 309 13.87 %
60% to 69% 164 7.36 %
50% to 59% 192 8.62 %
Below 50% 545 24.46 %

TOTAL 2228 100.00 %

The next survey question is going to be:

If polygraph evidence was allowed into court, would
you personally take a polygraph test to help your
case?

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____________________________________________________________

2 POLYGRAPH TRUE STORIES: "The Proverbial Tack in the
Shoe Really Does Hurt" by Thomas Ivey

This past summer Mrs. X hired me to test her husband
regarding possible infidelity. Both were in their 50's
and had previous marriages, so when she observed him
standing by his car at a local store, talking to another
woman, he got her attention. She called him on his cell
phone to see when he was coming home, he lied to her and
told her he was several miles from the location where she
had just seen him. After several days of "debate" he said
that this was just someone he met at a local supermarket,
but that nothing was going on. He denied ever having sex
with the woman and said he would take a polygraph. Being
a considerate wife, she wanted to give him the benefit of
doubt and took him up on his offer to verify the veracity
of his statements.

Mr. X seemed very cooperative, but told me a different
story then he had told his wife. Of course, he started by
telling me that he was nervous, but honest, and he didn't
want his marriage of 5 years to end in divorce. We
completed the pre-test phase and a subsequent calibration
test which indicated he couldn't sit still. Mr. X was
counseled about movement and referred to his fear of
losing his wife, etc. I use an AXCITON with a motion
sensor pad, and after showing him what I was seeing, he
agreed to remain still. During the second chart, I saw the
right foot moving, but only caught the tail-end of the
movement, again verifying the tracing from the motion pad.
After repeated warnings to remain still, I stopped telling
him. On the third chart I noted the toes of the left foot
slowly curling underneath on relevant questions and
curling sharply back on comparison questions. As is our
standard, I ran my fourth chart and again noted the left
foot moving. After the test I discussed this with Mr. X
and he denied deliberately moving or having any problems
with the questions. Since I don't like violence in my
office, I never give the couple the results of a domestic
issue test until they are home (Many of my clients travel
50 - 100+ miles to take the test and knowing that the
other half was deceptive can make for one heck of a long
journey home - for both of them.)

Mrs. X called me later and while discussing the issues I
stated that due to his deliberate and intentional movement
the test was No Opinion. Mr. X was listening on another
line and immediately denied any intentional movement. We
terminated the conversation and about 20 minutes later
Mrs. X called me back, without the Mr. listening in. She
was curious about the movement and she said that Mr. X,
a machinist, took off his shoe after they arrived home
and the sock on his right foot was very bloody. She said
that he told her he got a chip in his shoe while at work
and he had an inch long cut on the ball of his foot.
Well, he just happened to get a metal chip in each of his
shoes. Having a good sense of humor, I started laughing.
Mrs. X asked me why I was laughing, as she began to laugh
also (contagion), and I explained about the tack in the
shoe theory. She said that he also had a linear scratch
and indentation on his left foot, but no blood. She then
told me that she was going to get to the bottom of the
problem. At 09:00 the next morning, I received a telephone
call from Mrs. X. She told me her husband had something
to say. Mr. X apologized for wasting my time and his
money and admitted that he had put a metal chip in each
of his shoes because he was told by co-workers that this
was the way to beat the exam. Since Mr. X had been
curling his toes differently to relevant and comparison
questions, I figured that he had done a little more then
talk to his co-workers.

I thought the story was over, but a few days latter, Mrs.
X called and requested another examination - after failing
to talk her out of it, her husband was scheduled. My son
conducted the retest and Mr. X was deceptive, but with
subtle movement during each chart that was detected by
the motion pad. Mrs. X verified that he had nothing in his
shoes because she made him put his shoes and socks on in
front of her - and then didn't let him out of her sight
until he went into the polygraph lab. During the
post-test, Mr. X no longer denied the affair, but said
that he was "being as honest as he could." In 20 years of
administering polygraphs, this is the first time that I
have ever had someone admit to putting the proverbial
tack in his shoe. Mr. X went on his way, a little wiser,
a lot more painfully, and definitely poorer.

Please send me your true story. It is okay if it needs
to be printed anonymously, just say so at the end of
the story.

mailto:support@polygraphplace.com

____________________________________________________________

3. IN THE FORUMS:

*** PUBLIC FORUM ***

"Should there be concern if you are asked to retake
a poly?

http://www.polygraphplace.com/ubb/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/000268.html

*** EXAMINERS ONLY FORUM ***

"I have a request to polygraph a person who is deaf.
Any ideas?"

To read and respond on this topic, you must have
registered and specifically requested access to the
private part of this forum.

You can read the requirements for joining this private
forum here:
http://www.polygraphplace.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

Just scroll to the bottom and READ ALL THE DIRECTIONS
under the heading...

*** Polygraph Professionals only - A PRIVATE Forum ***

_____________________________________________________________

4. FEATURE ARTICLE: "Brain scanner is a lie detector"
as originally printed in the BBC News

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was submitted by Nathan
Gordon and he was the Examiner who gave the Polygraph
Tests as a comparison to the Brain Scans for Accuracy.

(As printed by the BBC NEWS)

Traditional lie detection machines are only about 70%
accurate.

A medical scan that can pick up brain tumors could also be
used to tell whether a person is lying, US researchers
have found.

When a person is telling the truth they use different parts
of their brain than when people lie, the Temple University
team said.

These changes were detected by functional magnetic
resonance imaging.

The method may prove more accurate than traditional
machines, they told the Radiological Society of North
America.

Liar, liar

The conventional polygraph lie detector looks for body
changes linked with lying such as sweating and changes in
blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.

But Dr Scott Faro and his team say the accuracy is limited
because people who are telling the truth can show similar
changes merely as a result of being anxious about being
tested.

Furthermore, those adept at lying can learn how to cheat
the polygraph test. "I'm sure it would be better than the
polygraph", Professor Richard Wiseman, from the University
of Hertfordshire

The researchers investigated whether fMRI scans might be
able to spot what was happening in the brain when a person
was telling a lie.

They asked six of 11 volunteers to fire a toy gun and then
lie about what they had done. The other five were asked to
tell the truth about what had happened.

Each of the volunteers was then scanned with fMRI while
being asked questions by the scientists.

A polygraph test was also carried out for comparison.

In all cases the polygraph and the fMRI accurately
distinguished between the volunteers who were telling the
truth and those who were lying.

On the brain scans, different areas of the brain were
active when the person was lying than when they were
telling the truth.

Brain patterns

Also, more areas of the brain were activated when the
person was trying to deceive the questioner.

Although it is too early to tell whether confident liars
could cheat the fMRI test, Dr Faro is hopeful it could be
a more accurate way of spotting deception.

Unique areas of the brain are involved in deception

"We plan to investigate the potential of fMRI both as a
stand alone test and as a supplement to the polygraph with
the goal of creating the most accurate test for deception,"
he said.

Professor Richard Wiseman, from the Psychology Department
at the University of Hertfordshire and who has carried out
research into lie detection, said: "I'm sure it would be
better than the polygraph.

"The problem with the polygraph is it's a measure of how
anxious somebody is.

"Lots of people become anxious when they are attached to
the polygraph anyway and good liars are not anxious when
they lie."

"With fMRI you are looking at the brain's activity and
lying is cognitively quite hard.

"You are having to think what is plausible, what does the
person know, what can they go and check on, and so on.

"So, in terms of brain activity, the indicators are likely
to be more reliable."

He said the only shortfall was how practical it was to use
fMRI routinely because it requires the patient to remain
relatively still inside a large, expensive tube-like
machine which performs the scanning.

"It's not the sort of thing every police station has in
the back, but in the future, potentially in high profile
cases, it might be something people want to look at,"
he said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Nathan added these comments about the
research.

"I was blind - and did not know who was truthful or
deceptive. It turned out five were truthful and five
were deceptive. The polygraph properly identified 5
out of 5 deceptive suspects, and 4 out 5 truthful
suspects, with one truthful suspect determined
inconclusive. Excluding the inconclusive, there was
100% accuracy. If you consider the inconclusive an
error, there was 90% accuracy. Either way, the
polygraph was highly accurate." Nathan Gordon

_____________________________________________________________

5. UPCOMING SEMINARS: Is your state association having
a seminar anytime in the year 2005?
Please send me the details so we can let everyone
know. mailto:support@polygraphplace.com

------------------------------------------------------------
- NEW MEXICO SOCIETY OF FORENSIC POLYGRAPHERS 2005 SEMINAR -
------------------------------------------------------------

When? March 3-5, 2005
Where? Quality Inn & Suites
25 Hotel Circle
Albuquerque, NM
Who? Eric Holden, Lt. Doug Kennedy, Attorney Charles
Daniels, Alex Bedoya
How Much? $75 per person

For information contact Ralph Trotter 505-327-2292
e-mail: rtrotter@trotterassoc.com

------------------------------------------------------------
- COLORADO ASSOCIATION OF POLYGRAPH EXAMINERS 2005 SEMINAR -
------------------------------------------------------------

When? May 13-14, 2005
Where? Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office
Centennial, Colorado
What? Chart Analysis & Physiology
Who? Lt. Mike Platte of the Missouri Highway Patrol

For information contact Baseline Associates (303) 238-2225
to make a reservation.

-----------------------------------------------
- MISSOURI POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------------

When? Aug 31st - Sept 2nd, 2005
Where? Chateau on The Lake - $99/night
Branson, MO.
http://www.chateauonthelakebranson.com
Includes: Kansas & Nebraska Associations

For information contact John M. Hurlock at (816)-739-9951
e-mail: jmhurlock@aol.com

-----------------------------------------
- NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHISTS 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------

When? September 14th-16th, 2005
Where? Freedhold Gardens Hotel $75/night
Freedhold NJ.
Who? Speaker will be Donald Krapohl of DODPI
How Much? $150 for NJP members, $200 non-members

For information contact Thomas DeBruin at 732-229-5226

----------------------------------------------
- ALABAMA POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION 2005 SEMINAR -
----------------------------------------------

When? Oct 29th - Nov 3rd, 2005
Where? Carnival Cruise to Mexico - $482.50/person
Departs Mobile, AL.
Who? Speaker will be Scott Manners
How Much? $482.50 per person covers all costs

For information contact Herbert McCants
email: hmmccants@asdd.com

____________________________________________________________

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