The
Relevant Issue #145 - 10/13/2008
A Publication of The Polygraph Place
In this issue:
- Polygraph Bits & Pieces - by Ralph Hilliard
- The Current State of Polygraph - Article 1 - Entertainment Polygraph - by Ralph Hilliard
- Upcoming Polygraph Association Seminars - by Nadine Hilliard
- In The Private Forums - "Recent Topics from the Private Forum "
- Polygraph Place Products & Services -"Evaluation of Polygraph Charts", by Tuvia Shurany & Israel Ravid, added to the store. "Remaining Jewelry 50% off now until Christmas".
1. Polygraph Bits & Pieces - by Ralph Hilliard
Thanks to everyone who regularly sends me these bits and pieces of polygraph information. Please keep 'em coming. detector@polygraphplace.com
Polygraph Technique Survey Results
In July, I ran an informal survey to establish the most commonly used techniques among examiners today. There were just over 100 examiners who responded. The results of this survey was the basis for putting together the "Polygraph Techniques - Quick Reference Guide". The guide is available for sale to examiners only at the Polygraph Place Store. I was asked by a few people to list the results of the survey...so here goes:
The survey asked examiners to list their top techniques based on the following criteria in order of importance:
- Popularity - What technique they use most often.
- Necessity - What techniques you could not live without regardless of popularity.
- Validity - What Techniques you use that have validation studies to support them.
Examiners were allowed to vote on as many or as few techniques as they desired.The following list is the rank order from most votes to least.
- Peak of Tension
- Air Force MGQT
- R & I
- Utah ZCT
- Backster ZCT
- Bi-Zone/YouPhase
- Federal ZCT
- SKY
- CIT
- Army MGQT
- Utah MGQT
- Backster Exploratory
- Gordon IZCT
- Canadian Modified ZCT
- Matte Quadri-Track
There were another dozen or so techniques with anywhere from 1-3 votes each that I did not include in this list.
Fourteen Techniques were included in the first edition of the Quick Reference Guide.
New York Polygraph Examiner Leslie Sharoff is Killed in a Motor Vehicle Accident
Ralph,
Sadly, I must inform you of the passing of my cousin, partner and Polygraph Examiner Leslie J. Sharoff. He was active in the New York area as an Examiner and Private Investigator. He was a graduate of Nate Gordon's school in Philadelphia and a member of the APA. He was tragically killed in a Motor Vehicle accident near Monticello, NY on July 16th.
He was also my best friend and a real good guy. Lou Sharoff
** My heartfelt sorrow goes out to you Lou. Ralph **
A Few Interesting Articles Related To Polygraph (titles and descriptions are mine to help show relevance to polygraph. Actual article titles you can find in the links provided)
1. The UK Ministry of Justice is planning another Polygraph Pilot Scheme on Sex Offenders. A previous pilot found that nearly 80% of all polygraph tests administered on sex offenders prompted admissions. There are two related article links below.
1. Read the original article (BBC)
2. Read the original article (Warrington Guardian)2. Larry Farwell's Brain Wave Science. I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this new technology. The article has several standard misinformation quotes from Drew Richardson and overall the article is a marketing push to get this new technology introduced.
"It's 100 percent reliable and has been ruled admissible in court," Farwell said.
I personally don't know much about this technology, but it would make for good conversation in the forums. If you are in the know, please share your insights.
3. The suspect of a 2001 murder is going to receive a 'stipulated' test. I don't very often hear of the defense and prosecution agreeing in advance to accept the results of a polygraph test. It is good to see.
4. Homeland Security tests Malintent, a' mind reading scanner'. Not sure why they are calling it a mind reader since it is basically measuring temperature, heart rate & respiration. It is being tested at airports. I guess the lesson here is be sure to be on time for your flight, otherwise Malintent might determine you are a terrorist since you WILL have elevated temperature, heart rate and respiration after that run.
5. Nathan Gordon of the Academy for Scientific Investigative Training published a well done article for Police Chief Magazine on the surge of interest in veracity assessment technologies.
Accurate Polygraph Public Relations - An Invitation from Don Krapohl
A topic was started in the examiner private forums speaking to the need to correct the regular and persistent polygraph misinformation found in many different public venues. This was Don's response and invitation to volunteer:
APA President Gougler assigned me as chair of the Public Relations and Information Committee. I would like to take a proactive approach to our problems in the media. One is to have our positive press placed on the APA website (done). Another is to have volunteer polygraph examiners make presentations before interest groups that we want to influence: judges, lawyers, treatment providers, etc. The APA already has a PowerPoint presentation and script ready to go for speaking to the legal profession, and one is being drafted right now for PCSOT. What we don't have are volunteers who will take our message to these groups. So, this is a call for anyone who wants to do his part on the PR front. To address the misinformation on the polygraph, I need volunteers willing and able to write well. Once misinformation is identified, you would be responsible for crafting the response and correcting the error.
If you want to give it a shot, send an e-mail to APAkrapohl@aol.com and we'll get you set up. And you don't have to be a member of APA to help spread the good word.
Don Krapohl
APA Candidacy Announcement - James Reistroffer
Editor's Note - Anyone desiring to announce their candidacy for APA positions, you are welcomed to publish that announcement here in The Relevant Issue. Just send your announcement to detector@polygraphplace.com
*************************************************************************************************
James (Jim) E. Reistroffer - Candidate for Vice-President – Private, APA
I humbly submit myself to the American Polygraph Association (APA), its Fair Elections Committee (FEC) and General Membership, while announcing my candidacy for the office of Vice President - Private. After thirty-two years in the APA, I consider it a privilege and honor to be able to serve the APA in a leadership position...Read Jim's complete announcement - Read Jim's CV
2. The Current State of Polygraph - Article 1 - Entertainment Polygraph - by Ralph Hilliard
If you are like me, the first (and only) time I watched Fox's Moment of Truth reality show, I was sickened by just how badly this show distorted all aspects of polygraph. In one fell swoop, the show created an even larger collective public delusion of polygraph and polygraph examiners than already existed. And its growing. So what do we do?
I'll tell you what doesn't work. My first reaction was similar to Jim Carrey's in the film "Liar Liar" when he was picking up his mercedes from being impounded and noticed a brand new scratch down the side of his car that wasn't there before it was towed. If you haven't seen the movie, Jim Carrey's character, Fletcher, has a spell on him where he can't lie, even if he wants to. Let's pick up the scene where he first notices the scratch.
Fletcher: You scratched my car!
Motorpool Guy: Where?
Fletcher: [indicating with his hands] Right there!
Motorpool Guy: OH... That was already there.
Fletcher: You - -LIAR! You know what I am going to do about this?
Motorpool Guy: what?
Fletcher: Nothing! Because if I take it to small claims court, it will just drain 8 hours out of my life and you probably won't show up and even if I got the judgment you'd just stiff me anyway; so what I am going to do is piss and moan like an impotent jerk, and then bend over and take it up the tailpipe!
Motorpool Guy: [tossing the keys to Fletcher] You've been here before haven't ya?
And that is how I feel about the new stream of "Moment of Truth" type television shows. With that said, I've finally come to accept that 'Entertainment Polygraph' is not going away and its time we talk openly about what we can do and what we should probably stop doing.
First, I want to define and differentiate between 'Entertainment Polygraph' & 'Media Polygraph'.
For my purposes in this article, 'Entertainment Polygraph' is polygraph testing conducted in the media where truth, accuracy & professional standards are ALWAYS secondary to the entertainment value of the show. 'Media Polygraph' would cover everything left over.
I think there are many media venues that allow for a balance between truth, professionalism and entertainment. I'm not interested in making a list of 'good vs bad' shows, instead I want to focus on what can be done to assert ourselves and take charge of as much polygraph in the media as possible.
PRO's & CON's of Entertainment Polygraph
I think we all know the negative impacts of this type of pseudo testing, but just to name a few:
- It creates many false perceptions of how polygraph works and what it can do.
- It turns a highly trained professional examiner into a polygraph 'technician'
- It portrays that polygraph is done live and that movement, noise and distractions of crowds, hosts and stage hands are perfectly acceptable.
- It teaches people that polygraph verdicts are 'question based' rather than 'issue based'.
- It teaches people that 20, 30, 40, 50 questions or more is normal for a polygraph test.
- It creates a venue for unethical and poorly trained examiners to grow in numbers
- Overall, it creates an ever growing chasm between delusion and reality
I'm sure you can add ten more negative impacts to the list, but you get the idea.
As for the positive impacts, I believe that entertainment polygraph is creating a generalized increase in attention to and exposure of polygraph that may expand legitimate venues for our relatively small profession.
Again, the real question is what do we do with the cards we have been dealt?
I don't have all the answers, but I have several suggestions and ideas.
Article continues below after the ad.
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Article 'Entertainment Polygraph' continued...
1. Accept our circumstances and gain perspective. We are not alone here.
I just happened to watch the very first episode of CSI years ago and I was hooked. I watched the show every week and sang along with The Who in the beginning of every episode. In all that time, not once did I seriously think that a real life Crime Scene Investigator's work is probably not like what it is on the show. The real CSI probably doesn't wear designer clothes to every crime scene. They probably can't get back lab results within minutes. They probably don't spend hours and hours and days on end trying some strange experiment with toxic chemicals just to show that a six foot tall man could not have committed this dispicable crime, but that a five foot tall woman could.
Its possible that real CSI's wear clothes from Old Navy rather than the latest fashions from Paris, are constantly frustrated at how long it takes to get lab results and have budget constraints limiting their extravagant experiments. I can picture now a room full of real CSI's watching the first few episodes, rolling their eyes and saying things like 'That's not real CSI work, they are giving people the wrong impression' and 'You don't do that at a real crime scene, if you did, the results would be totally inaccurate'.
Another part of accepting our circumstances is being slower to crucify examiners who do any media polygraph testing. Granted, we have all become aware of a handful of bonehead, unehtical pseudo-examiners who let the tv and radio producers run the polygraph in exchange for a little fame and money. But there are many examiners who are trying to find a balance, trying to educate producers and offer alternative ways to have truth and entertainment. My point is don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. We really can't do anything about the boneheads, but I believe we should train, equip, encourage and support those seeking a balance.
2. Encourage participation.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, I firmly believe we should dive head first and well equipped into as many Media Polygraph opportunities as we can find. This is based on the fact that its not going away and time for ignoring it has passed. I've spoken with many examiners who think polygraph and the media should never mix, period. I'm not really arguing with you about that and on some level, I agree, its just that I no longer see an alternative. I believe we embrace it and make it our own or we let a few bonehead examiners destroy what's left of our public trust. I'd rather go find the bomb and maybe be blown up trying to disarm it rather than resigning to my fate.
3. Establish standards and training specific to Media Polygraph, whether it has an element of entertainment to it or not.
What will those standards be exactly? I don't know, but I believe there are a few important considerations in making them.
First, Flexibility. Without sacrificing quality or integrity, I believe we need to be flexible and practical enough to adapt to the vast differences between media polygraph testing and our cozy polygraph suite testing. Where we can bend, I believe we should bend.
Two, Creativity. This is an arena that is tightly controlled by producers and personalities. I believe training should include creative ways to give the producers the entertainment they require while at the same time teaching the producers why adhering to our core standards will make for a better show.
Three, Unified Message. Each examiner who intends to do any media polygraph should be equipped with a clear, definitive organizational message and well researched layman responses to the most frequently faced scenarios and frequently asked questions. Quite simply, let's not go on television unprepared and naive.
Four, Resolve. My understanding is that the pressure from producers to tell you how the polygraph will be run is immense, even to the point of tricking you into doing something you wouldn't normally do or turning on you when filming starts. Let the producers run the show, but we run our polygraph tests. We always have walk away power.
4. Patience and persistence with the collective delusion of the masses regarding polygraph.
Anyone else hear comments like this when a potential client is on the phone?
- I'm paying $X00 for two questions?
- It's going to take 2 hours to ask three questions?
- I've put together a list of about 25 questions I want to know the answers to. What do you mean I can't ask that many?
- I can sit in the room and watch the test right?
- I want to know if they have ever even thought about cheating on me.
Frustrating. No doubt about it.
I encourage each examiner to remember these are human beings with real problems approaching a technology for which they have more misinformation than real information.
The first time I needed an attorney, I had all sorts of misinformation myself. I approached each call as though there was a bloodsucking leech on the other end of the line and I wasn't going to trust any lawyer even though I needed one. Now that I have needed three attorneys in my life, my perspective has changed somewhat. Not all are out to bleed me dry and so far, the ones I hired have had a genuine interest in more than just collecting their fees.
So let us set about educating the public one person at a time if we have to. There are several ways for us to begin spreading a more unified message of our core principles.
- Have answers to these frequently asked questions that make sense to regular people. Don't respond with agitation at these frustrating questions, you'll just put up a wall between you and your potential client. They don't understand the dampening affect, psychological set, scoring algorithms and all our other jargon. Put together answers anyone can understand. Not only will it help begin destroying the misinformation machine, it will probably help you make a connection in which you will end up with the job.
- If you have a website, post clear information that helps people understand the differences in tv polygraph and real polygraph. As an example, Michael Martin from Global Polygraph put up this message to the masses. http://polytest.org/momenttruth.html
- Stay in touch with regular polygraph news, it is filled with misinformation and usually the opportunity to correct it by way of commenting about an article that has been written online.
- Volunteer to help Don Krapohl in his role as chair of the APA Public Relations & Information Committee.
- Engage in discussion with other examiners. In the Polygraph Place Private Forums, topics like these come up regularly and together, we can begin to build solutions.
- Send feedback and ideas to me here. During this series of articles, I plan to post letters to the editors in the next edition as I'm sure there will be some new and interesting views, opinions and ideas.
In closing, please understand that my goal is to no longer just bitch and moan about our problems, I've been guilty of that too often, but rather to encourage open-minded discussion and action to brainstorm, formulate and implement solutions. Won't you join me?
Ralph Hilliard - Editor - The Relevant Issue - 770.794.1325 - detector@polygraphplace.com
3. Upcoming Polygraph Association Seminars by Nadine Hilliard
** Important Update** We have added a section below to have your seminar flyer available here for download. Just email us the flyer in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.
Seminar Dates Association(s) Location Contact Flyer
(new)Oct 30 - Nov 1,2008 Texas Association of Polygraph Examiners San Antonio, TX Mike Chimarys none Nov 5-7, 2008 Tri-State Polygraph Assoc.
Kansas, Missouri, NebraskaBranson, MO John Hurlock none Nov 6-7, 2008 Ohio Association of Polygraph Examiners Columbus, OH Cindy Erwin none Nov 21, 2008 Maryland Polygraph Association
FREE ONE DAY SEMINARCrownsville, MD Joy Neal none Jan 26-28, 2009 National Polygraph Association Las Vegas, NV Gary Davis download May 14-15, 2009 Maryland Polygraph Association Laurel, MD Joy Neal none YOUR SEMINAR - LET US KNOW -Nadine
(The Polygraph Place)
4. In the Private Forums - "Recent Topics from the Private Forum"
A few of the recent topics in the examiner's only private forum:
- Lafayette Finger Cuff
- STIM Test Language Barriers
- PCPS Exams (Post Conviction/Pre-Sentencing)
- Manual Scoring vs Polyscore, OSS
- Examining the Handicapped
- Moment of Truth
What? Not yet a member of the FREE private forums for examiners only?
The private forums now have so many examiners registered I just stopped keeping count. The wealth of knowledge, information and wisdom that has amassed here is staggering. If you are an examiner, come and be part of this growing community.
Registration is a three step process.
1. Fill out the registration form.
2. After submitting the form, you will receive an email from the automated system with a username and password. Forward that email to me (support@polygraphplace.com) and include proof that you are an examiner. License, School, Department, Association Memberships, etc. If you do not provide something that we can independantly verify, you will not be given access.
3. Be patient. We have to verify your information and once we have, we'll authorize your login and be in contact with you.
5. NEW Polygraph Place Products & Services - "Evaluation of Polygraph Charts", by Tuvia Shurany & Israel Ravid, added to the store. "Remaining Jewelry 50% off now until Christmas"
Evaluation of Polygraph Charts
- by Tuvia Shurany & Israel Ravid.The purpose of this book is to teach and practice Chart Interpretation.
This book is now available in both English & Spanish on the Polygraph Place Store.
Cost: $64.95
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