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John Larson – The Innovator of Polygraph Science

John A. Larson, a true innovator, developed the world's first accurate lie detector device, laying the foundation for the modern polygraph machine. Larson's interest in deception detection began with the work of William Moulton Marston, where he measured changes in blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, and electrical skin conductivity. Larson advanced Marston's work, modifying an Erlanger Sphygmomanometer to record changes in blood pressure using a smoked paper drum and a kymograph. Larson published several papers on his instrument, which served as the foundation for Leonard Keeler's advancements in the 1920s and 1930s, earning Larson a spot in history as one of the biggest contributors to the improvement of criminology and criminal interrogation techniques.

John Larson at right demonstrating his "polygraph" lie detector machine at Northwestern University about 1936

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