The San Francisco call. [volume], September 08, 1907, Page 2, Image 2

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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MACHINES THAT TELL WHEN WITNESSES
LIE
T JT *rHEN Profasor Hugo Sfuntlerberg ef Harvard
1/1/ university went to Done, Idaho, to malp certain
V V observations of Harry Orchard, chief witness for the
prosecution in the Ha\;vood. murder total, the pub
licity arising therefrom earned the learned prcfeuar to mat*e
certain explanations to the public in en open letter. It was to
the effect that he h*d not ghen to any newspaper deiaiU ef Uie
psychological experiments he made on Orchard, he would not
'. until a much later period, end then only in scientific journals.
i Whd little he had utid had been made the basis of sensational
sterlet, false generally in their intent end content-^
Professor Mamlerberg did net pretend ,to < exclusive
\Jp*a*ledge ef secret processes* Later, he will give the result*
ef kit experiment!. The public, however, it anxious to kjiow
sooner hew certain psychological examinations are made, end
The Call raca below an article by a leading university man
'\u25a0 thoroughly conversant with the subject, though personally en*
gaged in other branches ef learning.
He explains reccr.l processes tf pfycholcfical investigation
'end thows how U is that. soon we may have in our courts an
otier kind of expert — the one who can tell whether witnesses
• ere telling the truth. _ X IMM
THE entire reading world had its* attention at
tracted by the visit of Professor Hugo Mun
sterberg of Harvard university to Boise,
Idaho, during the Haywood trial and the pub
lic awaits with interest his promised statement of
; the results of the scientific examination he • gave!
i Harry Orchard to determine whether or* not he was
telling the truth.
Concerning such examinations Professor Munster-"
berg has already said: "To deny that the experi
mental psychologist has possibilities of determining
the 'truth telling powers' is as absurd as to deny that
the chemical expert can find out whether, there i 3
arsenic in a stomach." If the results of his examina
tion demonstrate a practical method of telling the
truthfulness of a witness a new kind of expert may
find a place in our courts.
Meanwhile inquiry among psychologists shows
that the subject is not as new to them as it is to the
public, experiments of the sort having been carried on
for a number of years. The department of psychology
at Columbia university, for example, has a whole
j series, of sensitive electrical instruments for noting
; and recording the involuntary physical accompani-
I nients of mental conditions or actions. If these were
! attached to a suspected person while he was.under
! going a specially arranged examination they would
indicate not only whether he was telling the truth
. but also something concerning the crime he wasYry
ing to conceal.
The simplest of these instruments, the automato
graph, holds the forearm and hand suspended in an
easy position by means of a sling, which bears also a
pencil or pen point, which records each involuntary
movement of the hand, arm or body. This recording
part of the apparatus can be hidden- from^ the 1 sub
ject, and the sheet of paper upon which the record
is made can be caused to move at a. regular and
fixed 1 rate, so that the relation in time between any
question or suggestion of the examiner and the
response by the'suspect can; be accurately measured.'
The paper may also be cross ruled in such a way
that the character and extent of every movement
can be minutely studied.
Mental conditions of no special emotion ..are
accompanied by constant but slight involuntary mus
cular movements. , A question or suggestion, that in
any way excites the suspect will be recorded on" the
chart cittfer as a sudden change in the character of
the movement or, if, the suspect is wary, as a sudden
stopping of the normal movement,' due- to hiss effort
to appear unaffected. The character of the normal
record and . the way in which it varies with emotion
may be seen in . the accompanying "C illustrations,"
The questions or suggestions, that iprdduce emotion
in a guilty person will, of cdurse, have no :sueh effect
upon one 'who is innocent, j ...•'\u25a0
A considerably more delicate instruments the
pneumographj which notes and , records the normal
breathing and any departures from it due to; such
causes as those already, mentioned." Since the ma- /
chinery of this instrument is almost entirely electric V
it is quite possible to have that portion which: makes
the record in an entirely different * room from
that in which the examination is being -carried on. r
A sudden change in'tht rate or character of breath
ing is an almost invariable accompaniment of any
sudden emotion, no matter whether the emotion is ;':
uncontrolled or an. effort is made to.control it, and,
of course, as with the automatograph, whatever
stimulates emotion on the, part of a guilty.person will
have \ no^ effect upon 'one Jwho is innocentl : sh'i ",
Perhaps the most- delicate of all- these instru
ments is the sphymographj which on being attached
to the : wrist . notes and t records \u25a0* the \u25a0 heart ' beat -_in, the
same way that the others do involuntary muscular
movement or breathing. -.VOf the -three .•.ki nds : of
movement, that? of : the vheart is not; only iht< most ;
sensitive _ : _to -crnotionlbut: is \ also least; subject to" con- *
trol -by the; will; '.The record ! of; its ; halts; jumps or ,;.
rapid /beating -is perhaps .'the -most; significant 'of Tall. "
. Sinceiall- of these instruments' may be attached itoi
the same . per^bn^ :'a't once; their- accumulated 'testi-,
monyjbccomcs^ycry strong indeed. 'Aridiwhen^thcrc;;;
Is employed in addition at the same time a purely
mental examination, which x is perhaps the strongest
of :> all, the total we-;-' * of evidence can scarcely be
"doubted. V N '.- . ... <
i^This purely mental test, which is based on the
time measurement of mental associations, also em
ploys electricity in the form of an instrument some
what resembling a recording telephone, - The facts
of mental \u25a0association are familiar to every one.
Whenever two things have been experienced to
gether.'one of them tends to call up the other, in the
mind, and; the tendency for the one to recall the
other. increases in strength according as experiencing
therji has* been recent or interesting or intense.
If 1 now, •: for, instance, a burglary has been com
mitted and the suspects are 'to' be examined by a
psychologist he informs himself of all the striking
details of the rooms that were entered and of the
acts that must have been done-^in/thbrt, of every
thing that ,would Hav* e attracted the attention of the
burglar, and 'in particular of whatever things would
have become associated in his. mind. In the exam
ination the : psychologist, explaining that he wishes
to test- theV subject's mental quickness, merely re
peats long series of words, one after the other, and
requires the suspect to, pronounce as rapidly as pos-
sible after cadi ; the first thing it him think of,
thus^Chair^ table; ; boy, girl; -coat;'^hat; -door, window;
trahsfer,,Btreetcir, ; etc.t-, Enough" a harniless words are
giyeiii to v accustotn , the ' subject .to \u25a0 giving the - first
thing suggested i and \u25a0 to* answering '• rapidly. : Suddenly,
without a K warhihg, s a;Cqrisiderable ? listrof things found
on r^thet scene* of the"' crime « is introduced. 5 " Hearing
these; words; and -being undeV the "necessity for rapid
ja& San Francisco Sunday CalL
response, a suspect who is guilty will almost Im
mediately utter the names of. other things or actions;
connected with the crime, but which have not been
mentioned by the examiner. In other words, ha
betrays the guilty knowledge of the scene of tha
crime or of the action which must have been goaa
through by the criminal.
Any suspicion on the part of the subject of the
examination assists rather than interferes with Its
success. If he becomes aware that his answer* aro
betraying him any refusal to proceed would be 3
practical admission of guilt and any hesitation I 3
trying .- to avoid Incriminating .' answers would xnaka
an equally significant sign on the time record.
Rapid answering to an associated word win sot!
ordinarily occupy more than a second, but thai
realization of the danger of any association and tha
effort to find something else to say may requira
several seconds. The research for substitute words
also is often unsuccessful. Sometimes, in spite of
an effort to find another the incriminating word per
sists and the subject cannot avoid uttering It. Aft
other times the rapid search leads only to nonsense.
and this, if often repeated, is suspicious.
In any case, . such an examination— especially if
sufficiently extended to eliminate the results cj
accident or if combined with the three other formj
of. examination mentioned — furnishes almost unques
tionable .evidence of the action or the knowledga
which, the examiner seeks. And in every case thero
is an unmistakable difference between the response
of a guilty or knowing person and one innocent or
ignorant of the crime.
All of these methods may be used not only with!'
suspects who wish to conceal their guilt, but equally!
well with witnesses who wish to convey an fan- 1
pression which did not accord with the facts, as mayj
have been the case with Orchard. In the latter in-i
stance ;the lack of emotion or of unexpected associa-j
tion with the crime would be as significant as their'
presence in the examination of guilty persons.
The purely mental test described above, which"
was developed at " the University of Wurzburg in
1905, is evidently that used by Professor •Munster
berg with Orchard, although his experience and;
originality probably devised certain modifications or!
elaborations/ He says: "The chief proof (i. c., of
Orchard's reliability) lies for me in certain results!
of the time measurement of associations, a complex!
method which has been developed for legal purposes'
in the last two or three years."
Nor are. the experiments described the only con
tributions, that experimental psychology is likely to
make to the solution of legal problems in the near
future. Extensive studies of the credibility of the
observation of even -an intentionally truthful witness
have been made at the universities .of Berlin and
Geneva and at Columbia, and they indicate that our
ordinary observation is so far from accurate that
no man can truly carry, out the witness' promise "to
teir the truth, the whole truth and nothing but tha
Suppose a large" number of persons observe a
given event Let each one give his version and you
find a great divergence of story. The amount ot
truth and, of error, -however, is fairly computable aa\
a; result of many experiments and proper provision #
can^bemade in certain circumstances for this maririn
ot honest error. «*&"»
But the details ot this line of research, however
are, as -Mr. Kiphug s.ay s, another story. WCYCr »