Polygraph Testing

[nugnug]

Did Adrian Prout fail the test nugnug? 

yes he failed the test then confessed to killing his wife and led the police to the body.

[susan]

sorry nugnug got mixed up with the Adrian Prout  guy was thinking of somebody else.  sorry about that not paying attention as usual

[Patti]

yes he failed the test then confessed to killing his wife and led the police to the body.

Awww thank you nunug...I thought I had read it somewhere...

[susan]

Hi nugnug  Patti and I have been discussing the Colin Stagg post did he pass the polygraph test or not.

[sc82]

I am sorry Patti you seem to have been totally mislead. Firstly, a lie detector test, or polygraph test to give it's correct name is a test has little or no validity amongst scientists or courts of law. Lie detection has a long history in mythology and fairy tales; the polygraph has allowed modern fiction to use a device more easily seen as scientific and plausible. It is a test that measures normal human responses to questions. The belief is that deceptive answers will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive answers.
Secondly, based on the first statement, it presumes that all humans will exhibit the same responses if they try to be deceiptful in the answers to questions - sweating, shaking, increased heart rate, facial blushing etc. These are direct results of feelings of guilt, embarassment, shame and the knowledge that one has just told a lie etc. However, in a psychopath these normal physiological responses are, by-and-large, absent. Therefore the psychopath will appear to be telling the truth when questioned as they will exhib normal responses to highly important questions.
For a psychopath to tell a lie is second nature and therefore will exhib virtually no physiological response.
Polygraphy has also been faulted for failing to trap known spies such as double-agent Aldrich Ames, who passed two polygraph tests while spying for the Soviet Union. Whereas serial murderers Ted Bundy and Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to name but a few have passed these without any difficulty at all.
In short, it is a useless tool and had been widely discredited by scientists and psychologists alike, especially in Europe where it is mostly used by defendants trying to add weight to their protestations of their innocence.  It CANNOT detect people using methods designed to beat it.
It is probably best summed up on this site 'How to Cheat a Polygraph'
http://www.wikihow.com/Cheat-a-Polygraph-Test-(Lie-Detector)

People like Ted Bundy (who i think was a sociopath??) have no conscience therefore they don't think they're doing anything wrong and they can dis-associate themselves from their actions. I believe that they do this to such a degree that they actually convince themselves that they are innocent, and as such are able to pass the polygraph test. Now I know Jeremy has passed the psychological testing he's had, but some might argue that this may be how he was able to ace the test

[nugnug]

Hi nugnug  Patti and I have been discussing the Colin Stagg post did he pass the polygraph test or not.

colin stag passed  polygraph tests one for the news of the world another one for the cook report.

[Marie27]

colin stag passed  polygraph tests one for the news of the world another one for the cook report.

and what was Stagg guilty of? I seem to remember him being innocent.

[Marie27]

People like Ted Bundy (who i think was a sociopath??) have no conscience therefore they don't think they're doing anything wrong and they can dis-associate themselves from their actions. I believe that they do this to such a degree that they actually convince themselves that they are innocent, and as such are able to pass the polygraph test. Now I know Jeremy has passed the psychological testing he's had, but some might argue that this may be how he was able to ace the test

Erm you could safely say that Bundy - a cold-blooded pitilous murderer was indeed a sociopath

[nugnug]

and what was Stagg guilty of? I seem to remember him being innocent.

yes colin stag was proved to be innocent thats the point im makeing.

he passed to2 lie detecter tests so in his case the test definatly was right.

[Roch]

yes colin stag was proved to be innocent thats the point im makeing.

he passed to2 lie detecter tests so in his case the test definatly was right.

Isn't Stone now asking for Levi Bellfield to be investigated for the killing that Stagg was accused of?

[nugnug]

no robert napper has allready been convicted of the murder stag was accused of.

your thinking of a diffrent murder.

[Roch]

no robert napper has allready been convicted of the murder stag was accused of.

Stone has asked for Belfield to be investigated for the murders he (Stone) was convicted of?  Apologies if I have got cases mixed up.  I tell you what though, that Bellfield is a fiend.  There's going to be more murders linked to him. 

[susan]

Hi nugnug  thanks for the information on Colin Stag regarding the polygraph testing

[Marie27]

yes colin stag was proved to be innocent thats the point im makeing.

he passed to2 lie detecter tests so in his case the test definatly was right.

OK I still dont get your point. Yes he was innocent of the murder of Rachel Nickell. The police initally suspected Stagg of killing her and even went so far as to trap him with the use of an undercover female police officer. The police were convinced it was him. It wasnt until Stagg was arrested and this sting operation was made public. The case went to court and the polygraph would have been inadmissable as evidence in a court of law. In short the polygraph did not prove a thing. Psychopath, Robert Napper was later arrested, charged and convicted for Rachels murder.

[susan]

marie27  I think the point nugnug is making that Colin Stag passed twp polygraph tests each resulting in an innocent result and although this result is inadmissable in Court  he was proved innocent in a Court of Law