Polygraph Glossary Theory

fear of error

Definition

Fear of error is a concept by James Matte proposing that innocent examinees may react to relevant questions due to excessive concern about a false positive error. To address this, Matte developed \"inside track\" questions for his Quadri-Track Zone Comparison Technique. Independent empirical suppor...

What Is Fear of Error?

Fear of error refers to a truthful examinee's anxiety that the polygraph might incorrectly classify them as deceptive — a false positive error. This fear can produce arousal at relevant questions in truthful examinees, potentially mimicking deceptive response patterns.

CQT Design Addresses Fear of Error

The CQT addresses this through comparison questions that provide alternative sources of concern. Under psychological set theory, a truthful examinee's concern about comparison questions typically exceeds their fear of error at relevant questions, producing the comparison-dominant pattern characterising truthful results.

Distinction from Hope of Error

Fear of error is the truthful examinee's concern about false positives. It contrasts with hope of error — the deceptive examinee's hope for a false negative. Both relate to error expectations but operate on opposite sides of the deception divide with different psychological dynamics.

Examiner Management

The pre-test interview and stimulation test help manage fear of error by establishing the comparison question mechanism. A well-conducted pre-test leaves the truthful examinee more concerned about comparison questions than relevant ones, allowing the CQT's designed psychological dynamics to produce accurate results.

Cross-references

More theory terms in this glossary

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