A History in Deception

A History in Deception The polygraph has long been plagued by questions By Ishani Ganguli ARTICLE EXTRAS Watching the Brain Lie Anatomy of Lying The polygraph-developed in the 1920s by John Larson, a Berkeley, Calif., policeman with a PhD in physiology-relies on the notion that people get nervous when they lie. A subject is strapped to a chair by wires and cuffs on his arm, chest, and fingers, and the "lie detector" marks his v

Written byIshani Ganguli

| 3 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

3:00

The polygraph has long been plagued by questions
By Ishani Ganguli

ARTICLE EXTRAS

The polygraph-developed in the 1920s by John Larson, a Berkeley, Calif., policeman with a PhD in physiology-relies on the notion that people get nervous when they lie. A subject is strapped to a chair by wires and cuffs on his arm, chest, and fingers, and the "lie detector" marks his vital signs in squiggles on paper or a computer screen. If he shows signs of an accelerated heart rate, increased sweating, or faster breathing in response to an incriminating question, he's failed the test.

First conceived as a means of replacing police brutality with hard science, the polygraph quickly took on "a bluff and bluster kind of role" in police precincts, says Ken Alder, a historian at Northwestern University. "It has the same logic as torture...to intimidate people into confessing." Academic psychologists had doubts from beginning, and ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here