Can nerves or anxiety cause a failed test?
In a word, the answer is no. Virtually everyone submitting to a polygraph examination is nervous about something. It is natural and expected. A polygraph examination is a complex procedure, where the examiner is looking for a specific type of physiological response, a departure from the examinees physiological baseline, to a specific question. A person can be very nervous, or very relaxed, and that will be their baseline for the duration of any particular testing sequence. Any one single question will not be negatively affected by general nervousness.
