The American Polygraph Association (APA) is a professional association of polygraph examiners. It was established in 1966. It has about 2,800 members.
The organization offers its members publications and conferences related to polygraphy, as well as employment services and public referrals for its members. It lobbies to promote its members' interests at the local, state, and federal levels. It also establishes minimum standards for the education and training of polygraphers, and offers accreditation to programs that meet those standards. The association does not accredit or certify individuals.
The stated goals of the APA are:
APA members are proponents of the control question technique of polygraph admission, which includes asking questions designed to gain a greater physiological response from innocent subjects being given a polygraph.
About 10 years before the founding of the APA, a future president of the organization, Chris Gugas, demonstrated the polygraph before a national television audience with Groucho Marx on the comedian's show You Bet Your Life.
Controversies
The American Polygraph Association has been embroiled in lawsuits over the years over allegations of unfair treatment, the most recent of which has occurred in 2013.