The effectiveness of a polygraph test hinges on the mindset of the person being evaluated, a nuance highlighted by a polygraph examiner affiliated with the VB Psychophysiology Laboratory and supported by researchers at the Shvyrkova Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Andrey Uchaev, a noted specialist in this field, emphasizes that mental approach plays a critical role in how physiological signals align with truth or deception during testing. This perspective helps explain why some individuals respond in ways that can complicate the interpretation of polygraph measurements, regardless of training or technique. In practical terms, the mentality of the examinee becomes a determining factor in how accurately physiological responses map to truthful or deceptive answers, influencing both the test outcome and the examiner’s confidence in the results. The upshot is a reminder that psychology and physiology operate in tandem during polygraph assessments, and that human variability can shape the reliability of the tool in real-world settings.
