Eleventh century European courts used “Trial by ordeal.” It was based on the premise that God would not let a truthful man suffer. One typical ordeal would be to have the suspected person put his hand in a pot of boiling water and hold it there for a period of time. If on removal there was no sign of scalding or burning he would be deemed to be innocent.
The development of the polygraph as we know it was the result of the research of many people. In the late 19th century, Mosso, an Italian physiologist studied fear and its effect on the heart and respiration. Many early theories of lie detection were dependent on “fear theory.”
Pickering is a city on the north shore of Lake Ontario immediately east of Toronto. It has a culturally diverse population of about 100,000 persons. Most of the population lives in the south part of the city, the northern part being more rural and spotted with small villages.
The area was originally inhabited by the Wyandots (Hurons). In the later part of the 18th century many loyalists left the United States and settled in the area. Perhaps it is its rich historical past that has led to persons from Pickering to ask about the history of lie detection.
The first recorded attempt at lie detection was by the Chinese about 1000 BC. It was assumed that the fear of being caught lying would lead to a decrease in the production of saliva. The suspected liar would be required to put dry grains of rice in his mouth and after a time to spit them out. If the grains were dry, it was indicative of lying.
Erasistratus, a Greek physician (250-300 BC) attempted to detect deception by “counting the pulse”. Coincidentally pulse rate is one part of the physiology that modern polygraphs measure. Galileo invented the first device to measure “pulse count” circa 1581.
In 1881, Mosso’s tutor, Cesare Lombroso developed the first lie detection device.
Known as Lombroso’s Glove, it measured changes in a person’s blood pressure and recorded them on a graph.
In 1921, William Marston (the creator of Wonder Woman) combined an apparatus for measuring blood pressure with one to measure respiration. A few years later, he and Leonard Keeler added a third device to measure galvanic skin response (GSR).
Today polygraphs consist of these components and often include a fourth component. The plethysmograph measures variations in the pulse. Polygraphs are now linked to computers.
The biggest advancements in polygraph in the last fifty years relate to research and development of polygraph techniques that are both valid and reliable. Much of this should be credited to the University of Utah.