The Polygraph or ‘Lie Detector’

In the 20th Century a kit was developed for questioning suspects of crimes – the Press called the Polygraph a ‘Lie Detector’ – the makers of each suitcase set called them Polygraph. Ken Alder has written a really interesting account of the history of the polygraph as a ‘Lie Detector’ and his “The Lie Detectors” book has a great website, where you can look at a brief history of its use:  http://www.kenalder.com/index.htm

What you would have access to:

The current equipment uses a series of transducers that take information from the body, through to a computer, which is programmed to record and evaluate the incoming data. These transducers measure electro-dermal activity (sweat rate), heart rate and respiration rate and depth in the system offered here. The software allows marking when questions are asked, so that they appear correctly on the analysis screen. The graphics and the recordings are more stable and reliable than they were in the old days, when a real graph printer was used, and the software records are far safer, since they can be backed up (paper records were very vulnerable) and checked independently.

Why might you wish to commission coaching?

The American and Israeli Governments and Security Services both use the Polygraph with government employees and under certain conditions with informants, with criminal and terror suspects. In Japan the police may use skin conductance information with eyewitnesses to enhance intelligence gathering.  Both kind of application are about truth telling – but the Japanese are using the method to confirm recognition that the witness may be unconfident, or culturally unwilling to share – whereas the Americans and the Israelis use the Polygraph as a  ’truth serum’ machine, despite the US Government’s Office of Science and Technology’s report showing otherwise.

Why would this matter to you, or your organization? Because the US .Employee Polygraph Protection Act 1988 provides for the testing of workers in the following industries which can be subject to sub-contracting.  The Act does mention polygraph tests can be administered to certain applicants for jobs with security firms such as ‘armoured car’, alarm, or security firms, and interestingly, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors and dispensers.  Further, your own citizenship does not protect you from testing.  In the 1980s attempts were made by the US Government to insist on the testing of British workers at the Government Agency GCHQ – this never happened then, but if your organization undertakes work subcontracted to the US Government, your staff (or you) might be asked to comply.

I can offer your organization background on what the process means, and an experience of being wired-up for a simulated experience with real measures for individual workers. The goal is not to beat the machine – but to work the real ‘lie detector’, the person who runs the polygraph interview.

But my services are not limited to organizations, individuals who want to have the experience, under private conditions, are welcome to commission a polygraph session.  Actors, for example, might find this a useful process, and all clients are assured of complete confidentiality, whatever their motivation for experiencing the polygraph.

Charges depend on the package that you require, but would begin at £200.00 for an individual session, plus travel costs, if we come to your site. Multiple testing is delivered at a discount; contact us for terms.

The Quicktime Movies shows the recording of a part of a session.