PEAK Basic Examiner's Course

PEAK is offering two specialized courses this fall!

Basic Polygraph Examiner's Course is APA accredited and consists of a minimum of 400 hours. Timelines and schedules are flexible and always changing to accommodate class needs and instructor availability. The order of topics covered will vary from class to class. Most Basic Polygraph Examiner's Courses for this institute are completed in a ten-consecutive-week cycle. Nevertheless, all basic courses offered will be completed in not fewer than 10 nor more than 17 weeks according to accreditation standards. Read below for an in-depth explanation of the benefits of the PEAK Basic Course. The Basic Examiner's Course fee is generally due prior to the beginning of the course of study unless other arrangements are made through the training center. The tuition fees include all course materials, supplies and use of equipment and polygraph instrumentation together with staff consultation while in attendance.

The student will learn laws (and relevant human rights) applicable to credibility assessment.

Ethics, Standards of Practice and By-Laws

The student will learn the relationships between the APA and AAPP Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice / By-Laws and other ethical considerations for the practice of credibility assessment.

Introduction to the History and Evolution of Credibility Assessment

The student will be able to identify those persons who made notable contributions to the early and contemporary history of credibility assessment, and demonstrate their knowledge of the evolution of credibility assessment instrumentation, credibility assessment techniques, and test data analysis; the development of relevant professional associations; and alternate methods of credibility assessment.

Scientific Testing

The student will demonstrate a conceptual knowledge of sensitivity, specificity, false positive errors, false negative errors and statistical significance in the application of the concepts to diagnostic and screening tests; the ability to review research articles and explain their methodological strengths and weaknesses.

Mechanics of Instrument Operation

The student will be able to perform a proper functionality check. The student will also be able to demonstrate the proper component placement, including primary and alternate locations in addition to the positioning of the examinee; proper software operations; acceptable data collection practices, and the use of standardized annotation on polygraph examinations.

Credibility Assessment Techniques

The student will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of evidentiary, investigative, and screening examinations. Students will understand the essential components of these testing protocols, including the number of presentations, number of tests, and question sequence rules.

Pre-Test Interview

The student will be able to explain the rationale behind pretest procedures and demonstrate the ability to conduct a free narrative, structured or semi-structured interview.

Post-Test Interview

The student will be able to explain the rationale behind post-test procedures, identify basic interview approaches and demonstrate the process of post-test interviews for the various test outcomes.

The student will be able to explain the basic elements of human psychology and their applicability to the science of credibility assessment testing.

Physiology

The student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the cardiovascular, respiratory, central nervous, peripheral nervous, integumentary and skeletal-muscular systems, as well as pharmacology, as they relate to the credibility assessment data.

Test Question Construction

During classroom and laboratory exercises the student will demonstrate, in writing, an effective working knowledge of credibility assessment test questions for validated credibility assessment techniques.

Test Data Analysis

The student will demonstrate a working knowledge of the physiological response patterns used in interpretation of polygraph data, in addition to an ability to identify data suitable and not suitable for analysis. Students will learn to analyze polygraph data using a validated scoring system, including the appropriate use of decision rules.

Countermeasures

The student will be able to describe common types of countermeasure attempts and atypical physiology.

Information and Results Reporting

The student will demonstrate an understanding of necessary information content and presentation of test results.

Practical Application of Credibility Assessment / Mock Examinations

The student will demonstrate basic proficiency in conducting examinations under field-like conditions.

Education and Training Program Elective Instruction

The student will be familiarized with other credibility assessment-related content or given additional instruction on topics at the discretion of the training center.

PEAK Credibility Assessment Training Center is a proud member of the Lafayette Instrument family.

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