Polygraph Test Is a Psychological Test

A polygraph test is actually a psychological test, particularly when the testing methodology is a Utah Zone of Comparison Test (UZCT).  When it is conducted properly, the UZCT is a diagnostic tool, like IQ tests or personality tests. 

A good polygraph exam has all of the elements of a psychological test.  When it is done “by the book”, the UZCT takes behavior samples, the polygraph examiner is completely objective, the testing procedure is standardized, scientific research has shown it to be valid and reliable, and it is truly diagnostic.  This is not necessarily true of all polygraph tests.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

Polygraphs Don’t Detect Lies; Polygraph Examiners Do

The polygraph is not a lie detector.  It is an instrument that measures and monitors parts of your body’s physiology.  It does nothing more and nothing less.  The polygraph examiner, however, can tell whether a person is lying or telling the truth by carefully evaluating physiological changes that the polygraph is monitoring.  For all practical purposes, the polygraph examiner is the lie detector.

The accuracy of any polygraph test depends entirely on the skill, knowledge and experience of the examiner.  If the examiner knows what he is doing, and does it well, the results of his tests will be accurate almost all of the time.  If the examiner doesn’t really know what he is doing, or if he conducts the test poorly, the result (pass or fail) will be totally meaningless.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

Immigration Polygraph Tests – Political Asylum

Arturo Alvarado* was being persecuted for his political beliefs.  He fled his country and came to the United States to avoid being executed for those beliefs.  If he was not allowed to stay in the U.S., he would be deported to his native country where he faced certain death at the hand of its government.

The United States Immigration authorities couldn’t be absolutely sure that Mr. Alvarado was telling them the truth.  He may have been honest or, then again, he may have been making up a story for the sole purpose of immigrating under false pretenses.  An Immigration Judge had the power to grant Mr. Alvarado political asylum and allow him to remain in the U.S.  However, the judge needed some objective evidence that his story was the truth.

The only proven scientific technique that could verify Mr. Alvarado’s story was a polygraph examination utilizing the Utah Zone of Comparison Test.  If he passed the test, it would provide the necessary documentation of his persecution and his well-founded fear.  In short, the passing polygraph test provided corroborating evidence per the Federal REAL ID Act of 2005, and paved the way for Mr. Alvarado to remain in the United States, safe and secure from the government officials in his native country who would kill him for his political beliefs.

In order to impress an Immigration Judge that the polygraph test is legitimate, it should only be conducted by a leading professional examiner who has impeccable academic and professional credentials.  This test is too important to be done by anyone but the best!

For more information about Political Asylum polygraph exams, call Dr. Rovner at 818-340-6963. 

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

*  Arturo Alvarado is a pseudonym

Immigration Polygraph Test: Happy Ending

Mr. Jones (not his real name) is an attorney in Los Angeles who is engaged to be married to Ms. Skupinsky (not her real name), a citizen and resident of Romania.  Mr. Jones filed an immigration petition with the United States immigration authorities seeking a visa for Ms. Skupinsky to come to the United States so that they could be married.  Due to a past transgression, however, the United States immigration authorities required Mr. Jones to demonstrate that he did not pose a threat to Ms. Skupinsky’s safety or well-being before his immigration petition could be approved and Ms. Skupinsky permitted to come to America.  

Mr. Jones asked me to give him a polygraph test to demonstrate the truth of his statements that he did not have any intention to harm, nor would he ever harm, Ms. Skupinsky in any way, whatsoever.   Mr. Jones took the test and passed it.   My report was submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, along with letters and other materials submitted by Mr. Jones’ friends, family members and business associates to establish his good character and sincerest intentions for Ms. Skupinsky.

The happy ending to this story is that, after reviewing these materials, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service approved Mr. Jones’ immigration petition.  Mr. Jones and Ms. Skupinsky are now looking forward to getting married in Los Angeles in the very near future.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.  He is the former Dean of the Professional School of Psychological Studies

Scientific Research Supports Polygraph Testing

Polygraph testing is supported by most informed scientists.  This is because they have read some or all of the scientific research that establishes polygraph’s accuracy rate.

Scientific research into polygraph accuracy has been going on since 1917, when a Harvard psychologist named William Marston published the first-ever experiments dealing with polygraph-based lie detection.  Since then, thousands of experimental reports and articles have been published around the world, in some of the most prestigious scientific journals. 

What this research tells us is that if a polygraph exam is done properly, by a skilled and experienced examiner, using the best methodologies, techniques and equipment, accuracy can be as high as 96%.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

Fidelity and Relationship Polygraph Tests-Part 2: Choosing the Right Examiner

A polygraph test can be the starting point for rebuilding or renewing a once-happy and fulfilling relationship.  If one or both partners have been unfaithful, getting the truth out in the open can be the first meaningful step toward rebuilding the relationship.  If the polygraph results show that the partner has been faithful (as they often do) the suspicious partner can put their fears to rest and start focusing, once again, on the things that have always made their relationship worthwhile.

When choosing a polygraph examiner to conduct a fidelity test, it is important to verify certain things about his professional background, since this is a type of test that requires a special emotional sensitivity.  Psychology training should be the first thing you inquire about.  Since the exam deals with relationship issues, the ideal polygraph examiner will possess an advanced degree in Psychology (Ph.D. or M.A.).  Professionals with that kind of training and education will fully understand the dynamics of your relationship.  Understanding those dynamics is critical for fidelity and relationship testing. Other basic qualifications of the examiner include solid knowledge of, and experience with, the Utah Zone of Comparison Test.  And, of course, membership in the American Polygraph Association (APA) is absolutely essential when retaining an examiner for any type of test.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.  He is the former Dean of the Professional School of Psychological Studies

Fidelity and Relationship Polygraph Tests – Part 1

It’s an old story – you fear that your spouse or partner is having a sexual relationship with someone else, but they deny it.  All of the telltale signs are there: late night phone calls, suggestive emails, unexplained time away from home or the office, etc.  There is no actual physical evidence of an affair, but the circumstantial evidence is highly suspicious.

Polygraph tests can help troubled relationships

Psychologists and marriage counselors will tell you that truth and openness are the keys to building, or restoring, a successful relationship.  In a case where one or both partners have been unfaithful, it is very hard for them to openly admit their betrayals.  For some people, weeks or months of counseling are still not enough to make them admit the truth.  In the meantime, their spouse or partner suffers under the awful weight of suspicion.

 A polygraph test utilizing the Utah Zone of Comparison Test can be the starting point for rebuilding or renewing a once-happy and fulfilling relationship. 

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.  He is the former Dean of the Professional School of Psychological Studies.

Scientists Support Polygraph Testing – Part 2

In 1982, the Gallup polling organization conducted a survey of the members of the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR).  Those members were nearly all Ph.D.s or M.D.s who were involved in studying how our minds and bodies work together. The most striking and important outcome of the survey was that a substantial majority of SPR members who considered themselves to be informed about polygraph testing felt that it was a reliable method of determining whether someone was, or was not, telling the truth. `

In 1994, a group of research scientists conducted another survey of the members of SPR, very similar to the 1982 Gallup survey. And their results were much the same: 83% of the scientists who had read some of the research literature about polygraph accuracy believed that it was a valid and useful method of determining the truth.

The most recent demonstration of scientific support for polygraphy comes from a source that might surprise you.  In the early part of this decade, many government scientists were upset about the possibility that they might someday have to submit to a polygraph test. They asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to put together a panel of scientists who would review the polygraph research literature and issue a report about their findings. The panel was comprised of some very prestigious scientists, from a variety of different fields. They carefully reviewed some of the research regarding the validity and reliability of polygraph tests. After reading and evaluating the studies, they concluded that laboratory research demonstrated an average accuracy rate of 86% for single-issue polygraph tests, while the field research accuracy rate was 89%. Pretty high numbers, especially from a group of hard-nosed scientists who probably approached their search with more than a little skepticism.

Informed scientists, as well as anyone else who knows what he’s talking about, will tell you that polygraph testing, when done properly, is a valid and reliable method of determining whether someone is lying or telling the truth.

Dr. Rovner is a polygraph examiner with a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

Scientists Support Polygraph Testing – Part 1

All of the legitimate, objective, unbiased research shows that the scientific community strongly supports the use of polygraph testing – and has supported it for decades.  While it’s possible to find someone with academic or scientific credentials who will say the opposite, that person will typically be uninformed and naïve about polygraphy, or he will have a personal/financial stake in spouting antipolygraph propaganda.

Most people’s entire knowledge of polygraph testing comes from such unreliable sources as daytime television talk shows, two-minute radio or TV interviews by self-appointed polygraph “experts”, and misinformation passed along on the internet.  And when I say most people, that includes most scientists.

Scientists are like just everybody else……they know a great deal about their areas of expertise, just like anyone who has a job and works for a living.  However, if their area of expertise is not polygraphy, their opinion is not much more valuable than anyone else’s.  If you want to know how scientists feel about the validity and usefulness of polygraph testing, don’t ask a physicist who has never read any polygraph research.  Because he is a human being with feelings and opinions, he’ll probably tell you what he thinks.  However, his opinion (pro or con) won’t be more valuable than anyone else’s.

Scientists’ opinions are only worthwhile when they’re informed opinions.  When I talk about an informed scientist, I mean someone who has taken the trouble to read some of the research literature.  What scientists can do that most non-scientists can’t is understand the intricacies and subtleties of research and statistical analysis.  So the opinion of informed scientists should be of interest to anyome who has a genuine interest in knowing whether polygraphy meets the very rigorous test of science. 

The great majority of informed scientists are very supportive of polygraph testing.  There are several research studies that illustrate this point.  I’ll tell you about them in Part 2.

Louis Rovner, Ph.D.

Dr. Rovner Receives Research Award

Dr. Louis Rovner has won the prestigious John E. Reid Award.  The American Polygraph Association presents the award annually for distinguished achievements in polygraph research.  Dr. Rovner was recognized for his contributions as part of the legendary polygraph research team at the University of Utah.