Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Lisa Vanderpump Knew Those Lie Detector Test Questions Beforehand — Does It Matter?
Looks like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Puppygate scandal will continue until the end of time.
Lisa Vanderpump has been trying to clear her name in Puppygate, swearing on her kids' lives and offering to take a lie detector test in order to prove she didn't leak negative stories about Dorit Kemsley to the press.
In case you've been living under a rock, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills restaurateur was accused by her costars of being the leak, so at the end of the May 14 episode, Lisa actually took a polygraph test.
Turns out, she happened to know the questions beforehand. To be fair though, wouldn't most people taking a polygraph at least kind of know what they're about to be asked?
Guess what? They know exactly what they're going to be asked — it's part of the polygraph process.
John Ross, a polygraph administrator of 37 years and owner of NY Polygraph, explains why to Personal Space:
"Getting the questions beforehand has to happen," he said. "So there's nothing ambiguous while you take the test. [Lisa] would of course have to know every question and answer before she took the test.
Let's say you have a polygraph in a week, let’s just say you’re accused of murder, your attorney and I will sit down and go over everything and then I will sit down with you for over an hour or so going over every single detail before I formulate the questions. Then I go over the questions with you."
Ross said the purpose of all the prep is so you know how you will answer. "You don’t have time to think on a polygraph, there can't be any surprises. The questions have to be exact. There’s no wiggle room, you can't say, 'I have to think about that ... What day? Where was I on the right or on the left?' You need to go over everything many, many times over so there’s no doubt in anybody’s mind what’s coming."
In fact, according to Polygraph.org, which answers everything you'd ever want to know about lie-detector tests, if the polygraph examiner fails to properly prepare the examinee for the examination, it can lead to misreading of the physiological data and a false result.
