Kieso Polygraph Services

08/24/2026

"Trust but Verify" means you should maintain good faith or confidence in someone while still taking practical steps to independently confirm facts, data, or promises.

08/19/2026

Did you know?

A polygraph examination or (PDD) is often incorrectly referred to as a "lie detector test."

- The correct scientific and legal term is a polygraph examination or psychophysiological detection of deception (PDD) examination.

- Polygraph Examination/Psychophysiological Detection of Deception (PDD): The accurate technical term used by law enforcement, examiners, and researchers.

08/18/2026

A skilled and competent polygraph examiner must have strong critical thinking skills.

- Critical thinking is the clear, active process of analyzing, questioning, and evaluating information rather than accepting it at face value.

- It uses logic and evidence to solve problems, spot hidden biases, and make smart choices about what to believe or do.

Key Steps to Analyze:
- Break down information into smaller parts.
- Question: Check where facts come from and find hidden assumptions.
- Evaluate: Weigh different proofs and view things from multiple sides.
- Reflect: Look at your own biases and change your mind if facts change.

Why It Matters:
- Helps you solve hard problems.
- Protects you from fake news and bad ads.
- Leads to better choices in daily life.

08/07/2026

Did You Know?

Many people are surprised to learn that the majority of a professional polygraph examination takes place before any sensors are attached (not like what you see on television).

The pre-test interview is one of the most important parts of the examination. During this phase, the examiner:

• Learns the details of the issue(s) being investigated
• Reviews the allegation(s), or screening issues that will be addressed
• Clarifies facts and timelines
• Develops precise, relevant test questions, and the examinee will know exactly what's going to be asked. There are no surprise or trick questions.
• Ensures every question can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No"

This preparation helps produce a fair, understandable, and reliable examination.

A quality polygraph examination begins long before the charts start recording.

Professional. Confidential. Accurate.

07/31/2026

Body Language Myths:

Many popular beliefs about body language are oversimplified or simply unsupported by research.

Here are some of the biggest myths:

"Crossed arms mean someone is defensive." Not necessarily. They may just be cold, comfortable, or relaxing.

"Avoiding eye contact means someone is lying." People avoid eye contact for many reasons, including anxiety, shyness, cultural norms, or concentration. Some liars actually maintain extra eye contact to appear truthful.

"There's one 'tell' that proves deception." There isn't. No single gesture, facial expression, or posture reliably indicates lying. Professionals look for clusters of behaviors and compare them to a person's normal baseline.

"Body language is universal." While some expressions are widely recognized, many gestures, personal space preferences, and eye contact norms vary across cultures.

"Fidgeting always means nervousness or guilt." It can also reflect excess energy, habit, ADHD, discomfort, or boredom.

"People who smile are happy." Smiles can express politeness, embarrassment, nervousness, or an attempt to hide emotions.

"Confident people always stand tall and make lots of eye contact." Confidence is expressed differently by different people, and personality and culture play a big role.

"You can read someone's mind from their body language." Body language provides clues, not certainty. Context is essential.

"Micro-expressions always reveal hidden emotions." While micro-expressions can occur, they're brief, difficult to detect reliably, and shouldn't be treated as proof of what someone is thinking or feeling.

"Body language is more important than words." The often-quoted claim that communication is "93% nonverbal" is a misunderstanding of research. In most everyday conversations, both verbal and nonverbal communication matter, and the meaning depends on the situation.

As a polygraph examiner, one of the most important takeaways is that behavioral observations can help generate hypotheses, but they should not be treated as evidence of deception on their own. Research consistently shows that people are generally poor at detecting lies based solely on body language.

07/02/2026

05/20/2026

There are two types of polygraph examinations. Diagnostic (known incident or allegation) and Screening (no known allegation).

The primary difference is the scope and intent of the questions. A diagnostic examination investigates a single specific incident or allegation. A screening examination, on the other hand, evaluates a person’s general history or compliance across multiple, broad topics without a specific event in mind.

The distinctions between the two are outlined below:

Diagnostic Polygraph Examinations Primary Use: Criminal investigations, specific workplace incidents, or resolving targeted allegations.

Focus: Narrows in on one concrete event (e.g., "Did you steal the money from the safe on Tuesday?").

Accuracy: Because of the strict, single-issue focus, diagnostic exams generally offer the highest level of accuracy in the polygraph profession.

Context: Conducted in the presence of known evidence, symptoms, or a clear reported incident.

Screening Polygraph Examinations Primary Use: Pre-employment screening (e.g., law enforcement), federal security clearances, and post-conviction supervision.

Focus: Broad in scope, asking about multiple, unrelated behaviors or events in a single test (e.g., illegal drug use, past thefts, or driving under the influence, compliance with probation, parole, and/or treatment conditions).

Context: Conducted in the absence of a specific known problem or reported incident, often for risk management or general suitability/compliance.

Diagnostic exams are designed to uncover the truth about a singular event, while screening exams are designed to establish a baseline of risk and general background honesty.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day!