What Is the Berkeley Psychograph?

The Berkeley Psychograph — also known as the Lee Polygraph — is a two-channel polygraph with an event marker assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, California, and used in criminal testing [1]Verified Berkeley Psychograph (or Lee Polygraph) — PDD Terminology Reference
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was a two-channel polygraph assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, sold from the 1930s into the 1950s with accessories, designed to be as portable as a suitcase.. It included a stimulation marker, pneumograph, and cardiograph, and recorded these channels simultaneously on moving graph paper [1]Verified Berkeley Psychograph (or Lee Polygraph) — PDD Terminology Reference
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was a two-channel polygraph assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, sold from the 1930s into the 1950s with accessories, designed to be as portable as a suitcase.. The instrument was designed to be as portable as a suitcase [1]Verified Berkeley Psychograph (or Lee Polygraph) — PDD Terminology Reference
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was a two-channel polygraph assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, sold from the 1930s into the 1950s with accessories, designed to be as portable as a suitcase., making it a practical field tool for law enforcement at a time when polygraph technology was rapidly evolving.

According to Wikipedia, the Berkeley Psychograph was a blood pressure-pulse-respiration recorder developed by C.D. Lee in 1936 [2]Verified Polygraph — Wikipedia
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was developed by C.D. Lee in 1936 and that the polygraph was invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson at Berkeley PD., placing it among several devices similar to Leonarde Keeler's polygraph version from the same era. The standard Berkeley Psychograph is a cardio-pneumo device, but the particular unit offered here is a cardiograph-only variant — an unusual configuration that makes it especially rare among surviving instruments.

This instrument sits within a fascinating lineage of polygraph development that began at the Berkeley Police Department. John Augustus Larson developed the first continuous polygraph recording device in 1921 while working for Berkeley PD under Chief August Vollmer [3]Verified The Cardio-Pneumo-Psychograph (First Continuous Polygraph)
Confirms John A. Larson developed the first continuous polygraph recording device while working for the Berkeley Police Department.. Vollmer was the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and has been described as the father of modern policing [14]Verified August Vollmer — Wikipedia
Confirms August Vollmer was the first police chief of Berkeley, known as the father of modern policing, who championed scientific methods and college-educated officers.. He championed scientific methods in law enforcement, including the use of fingerprinting, polygraph machines, and crime laboratories [14]Verified August Vollmer — Wikipedia
Confirms August Vollmer was the first police chief of Berkeley, known as the father of modern policing, who championed scientific methods and college-educated officers.. Larson's cardio-pneumo-psychograph laid the groundwork for all subsequent polygraph instruments, including Lee's Berkeley Psychograph. Research by Winter (1936) demonstrated that the cardio-pneumo-psychograph showed higher diagnostic accuracy than word association testing for detecting deception in theft cases among college students [4]Verified A comparison of the cardio-pneumo-psychograph and association methods in the detection of lying in cases of theft among college students
Confirms the cardio-pneumo-psychograph showed higher diagnostic accuracy than word association testing for detecting deception in theft cases among college students.. To explore the broader history of polygraph innovation during this period, see our article on the polygraph during Prohibition.

Captain Clarence D. Lee: Polygraph Pioneer

Captain Clarence D. Lee served as Chief of Detectives at the Berkeley, California Police Department [5]Verified The Instrumental Detection of Deception: The Lie Test — Book Listing
Confirms Captain Lee was Chief of Detectives of the Berkeley, CA police department and invented a sprocket drive for chart paper movement in the 1920s.. In the 1920s, he invented a sprocket drive for the movement of chart paper and an improved means of converting blood pressure signals into reliable tracings [5]Verified The Instrumental Detection of Deception: The Lie Test — Book Listing
Confirms Captain Lee was Chief of Detectives of the Berkeley, CA police department and invented a sprocket drive for chart paper movement in the 1920s.. These innovations were significant engineering contributions that helped make polygraph instruments more practical for field use. Lee designed the Berkeley Psychograph consisting of a chart drive or recording unit, a pneumograph or respiration unit, a cardiograph or pulse-blood pressure unit, and a stimulus signal unit [1]Verified Berkeley Psychograph (or Lee Polygraph) — PDD Terminology Reference
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was a two-channel polygraph assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, sold from the 1930s into the 1950s with accessories, designed to be as portable as a suitcase..

Lee sold his Berkeley Psychographs from the 1930s into the 1950s [1]Verified Berkeley Psychograph (or Lee Polygraph) — PDD Terminology Reference
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was a two-channel polygraph assembled by C.D. Lee of Berkeley, sold from the 1930s into the 1950s with accessories, designed to be as portable as a suitcase., delivering them complete with pens, sensors, paper, and instructions. The Berkeley Psychograph improved model was first introduced in Chicago, Illinois in 1938 [6]Verified 7 Fascinating Facts About Polygraph History — Polygraph Sales
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph improved model was introduced in Chicago in 1938, and that Captain Lee introduced the guilt complex control question and the first Control Test.. The major difference from earlier Keeler instruments was that the Berkeley Psychograph incorporated a new design in the pulse-blood pressure unit [6]Verified 7 Fascinating Facts About Polygraph History — Polygraph Sales
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph improved model was introduced in Chicago in 1938, and that Captain Lee introduced the guilt complex control question and the first Control Test.. Beyond instrument design, Captain Lee was also the first to introduce the use of the guilt complex control question and the first 'Control Test,' which was later renamed the Pre-Test [6]Verified 7 Fascinating Facts About Polygraph History — Polygraph Sales
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph improved model was introduced in Chicago in 1938, and that Captain Lee introduced the guilt complex control question and the first Control Test. — foundational techniques that remain part of modern polygraph methodology to this day.

Lee published extensively on polygraph science, including his landmark 1953 book "The Instrumental Detection of Deception: The Lie Test" [5]Verified The Instrumental Detection of Deception: The Lie Test — Book Listing
Confirms Captain Lee was Chief of Detectives of the Berkeley, CA police department and invented a sprocket drive for chart paper movement in the 1920s.. A 1943 publication — an instruction manual for the Berkeley Psychograph — was listed under "Sacramento, CA: C. D. Lee & Sons" [7]Verified Polygraph History Holdings — DoDPI Library
Confirms a 1943 publication by 'C.D. Lee & Sons' in Sacramento, CA — an instruction manual for the Berkeley Psychograph., confirming that Lee operated across at least three cities — Berkeley, Chicago, and Sacramento — over the course of his career.

To learn more about Lee's remarkable career and his influence on a generation of polygraph examiners, read our dedicated profile: Clarence D. Lee: Polygraph Pioneer Who Trained a Generation.

A Unique Cardiograph Variant

This Berkeley Psychograph bears the serial number M101 — the only known example with an 'M' prefix in decades of collector observation. Unlike the standard Psychograph, which is a cardio-pneumo device, this version was specifically built as a cardiograph only. The cardio component is situated in the lower channel, and the pneumograph typically found at the top is absent. The stimulation marker, usually central, has been relocated to the top position. The middle channel remains unused.

Based on accompanying paperwork and its unique features, this instrument is believed to have been custom-made for a psychiatrist or medical professional. The 'M' prefix likely denotes medical use, distinguishing it from standard law enforcement units. From the seller's observations over four decades of collecting, it appears that Lee began his serial numbering at 101, which would make this unit potentially the first of its medical series.

Condition and Included Accessories

The unit is housed in either a Mahogany or Walnut hardwood case and is in excellent condition for an instrument approximately 90 years old. It comes with the following accessories: pump bulb assembly, bandage arm cuff, stimulation marker, and pens.

The chart drive functions well. However, the stimulation marker is currently inactive, and the cardiograph has not been tested under pressure to avoid damaging the delicate rubber membranes connected to the pen shafts inside the device. Any operational use or display may require some maintenance.

The chart paper used in this Psychograph is a rare find — different from the standard 6-inch paper used in most polygraphs from the era — making the instrument ideal primarily for display purposes. The original handle was broken and has been replaced with one consistent with post-1930s models, though the original handle is included.

Also included is a BMR Calculator from the Sanborn Company. Sanborn Company was founded in 1917 by Dr. Frank B. Sanborn, a retired professor of civil engineering at Tufts University, who initially produced water level recorders before entering the field of medical instrumentation [8]Verified Sanborn Company — Agilent History Center Archives
Confirms Sanborn Company was founded in 1917 by Dr. Frank B. Sanborn, a retired professor of civil engineering at Tufts University, who initially produced water level recorders before entering the field of medical instrumentation.. The company manufactured electrocardiographs and other medical equipment [9]Verified Sanborn Company — Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
Confirms the Sanborn Company was founded by Frank Sanborn in 1917 and was purchased by Hewlett-Packard in 1961., and was later purchased by Hewlett-Packard in 1961 [10]Verified Sanborn Company — Hewlett-Packard Acquisition
Confirms Hewlett-Packard acquired Sanborn Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1961.. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History holds similar Sanborn BMR Calculators in its collection [11]Verified Metabulator Scale — National Museum of American History (Smithsonian)
Confirms the Smithsonian holds Sanborn BMR Calculator instruments in its collection, with the Sanborn company established in 1917 by Frank Sanborn.. This particular calculator was included at the time of purchase and was likely used in a medical or psychiatric context.

For those interested in other vintage and modern polygraph equipment, browse our classifieds section for listings such as Polygraph Systems for Sale: Stoelting CPS II & Analog Lafayette Models or the Axciton S Polygraph System.

The Berkeley Police Department and Polygraph History

The Berkeley Police Department holds a unique place in the history of lie detection technology. Under Chief August Vollmer — the first police chief of Berkeley and a leading figure in criminal justice development — the department became a model of police professionalism and scientific policing [12]Verified 11 Things You'll Never Believe Came Out of Berkeley — Cal Alumni Association
Confirms the Berkeley PD's role as the birthplace of the polygraph under Chief August Vollmer, with Larson creating the cardio-pneumo-psychograph circa 1920. [14]Verified August Vollmer — Wikipedia
Confirms August Vollmer was the first police chief of Berkeley, known as the father of modern policing, who championed scientific methods and college-educated officers.. Vollmer was the first police chief to require that officers attain college degrees. In 1916, he persuaded the University of California to establish a criminal justice program at Berkeley, which he headed [15]Verified Celebrating 100 Years of Criminal Justice Education, 1916 — Journal of Criminal Justice Education
Confirms that in 1916, Vollmer created a baccalaureate degree-granting program in criminology at UC Berkeley for his police officers. — marking the beginning of criminal justice as an academic field in the United States [16]Verified Criminal Justice — Wikiversity
Confirms Vollmer established a criminal justice program at the University of California, Berkeley in 1916.. The polygraph was invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson, a medical student at the University of California, Berkeley, and a police officer of the Berkeley Police Department [2]Verified Polygraph — Wikipedia
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph was developed by C.D. Lee in 1936 and that the polygraph was invented in 1921 by John Augustus Larson at Berkeley PD..

Larson's cardio-pneumo-psychograph — which he formally described in a 1922 publication in the Journal of Experimental Psychology (Vol. 5, pp. 323-328) and expanded upon in a 1923 paper in the same journal [13]Verified The Cardio-Pneumo-Psychograph and its Use in the Study of the Emotions, with Practical Application
Foundational research — Larson's expanded description of the cardio-pneumo-psychograph published in Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1922, Vol. 5, pp. 323-328, with a follow-up paper in the same journal in 1923. — established continuous multi-channel recording as the foundation of modern polygraph science [3]Verified The Cardio-Pneumo-Psychograph (First Continuous Polygraph)
Confirms John A. Larson developed the first continuous polygraph recording device while working for the Berkeley Police Department.. From Larson's work came a succession of innovators, including Leonarde Keeler, who added the galvanic skin response component in 1938 [17]Verified A review of the polygraph: history, methodology and current status
Confirms Keeler was the first to add the galvanic skin response (GSR) channel to the polygraph in 1938, based on the work of Fordham University Graduate School psychologist Reverend Walter G. Summers., based on the earlier work of Fordham University psychologist Reverend Walter G. Summers [17]Verified A review of the polygraph: history, methodology and current status
Confirms Keeler was the first to add the galvanic skin response (GSR) channel to the polygraph in 1938, based on the work of Fordham University Graduate School psychologist Reverend Walter G. Summers.. Captain Lee's Berkeley Psychograph incorporated a new design in the pulse-blood pressure unit that differentiated it from earlier Keeler instruments [6]Verified 7 Fascinating Facts About Polygraph History — Polygraph Sales
Confirms the Berkeley Psychograph improved model was introduced in Chicago in 1938, and that Captain Lee introduced the guilt complex control question and the first Control Test..

The era of these innovations also saw parallel developments in deception detection internationally. Research by Widacki (2021) revealed that Polish military intelligence routinely used narcoanalysis for counterintelligence interrogations in the 1930s, making it among the first systematic governmental applications of drug-induced interrogation worldwide [18]Verified The Use of Narcoanalysis by Polish Counterintelligence in the 1930s
Confirms Polish military intelligence routinely used narcoanalysis for counterintelligence interrogations in the 1930s, representing one of the first systematic governmental applications of drug-induced interrogation..

For more on the rich history of polygraph instruments from this era, explore our guides on the Keeler Polygraph and related models and our Polygraph Research Database containing dozens of foundational studies from this period.

Collectibility and Museum Value

Berkeley Psychographs are exceptionally rare surviving instruments from the formative years of American polygraph science. This particular unit's unique serial number prefix, its cardiograph-only configuration, and its documented medical provenance make it an outstanding candidate for museum collections related to the American Polygraph Association (APA) — the world's leading association dedicated to the use of evidence-based scientific methods for credibility assessment, established in 1966 [19]Verified American Polygraph Association — Official Website
Confirms the American Polygraph Association was established in 1966 as the world's leading polygraph professional association representing more than 2,800 members.. The APA has approximately 2,800 members who maintain the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct [19]Verified American Polygraph Association — Official Website
Confirms the American Polygraph Association was established in 1966 as the world's leading polygraph professional association representing more than 2,800 members.. This instrument would be equally fitting in collections devoted to law enforcement history, forensic science, or the history of psychiatry.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History already holds polygraph instruments from this era, including a Stoelting Deceptograph that references Lee's 1953 book "The Instrumental Detection of Deception" in its catalog entry [20]Verified Polygraph — National Museum of American History (Smithsonian)
Confirms the Smithsonian holds a Stoelting Deceptograph polygraph instrument, with catalog entries referencing Clarence D. Lee's 1953 book The Instrumental Detection of Deception.. Harvard's Schlesinger Library also holds Berkeley Psychograph materials from circa 1938 within the Papers of William Moulton Marston [21]Verified Berkeley Psychograph, ca.1938 — Harvard Schlesinger Library
Confirms Harvard's Schlesinger Library holds Berkeley Psychograph materials from circa 1938 within the Papers of William Moulton Marston..

The instrument also has value as an authentic prop for film and television productions set in the mid-1930s through 1940s. For context on modern polygraph services, see our test locations page or book a polygraph test directly.

Purchase Details

This Berkeley Psychograph is offered at $1,400.00 as an antique or vintage collectible. It is sold AS-IS without guarantees regarding operational functionality. The instrument has been securely packed and stored.

Shipping is available only within the United States via FedEx, selected for cost-effectiveness. The seller is open to reasonable inquiries before purchase. Please examine all available photos carefully for a complete understanding of the instrument's condition.

Contact: Call (917) 854-2014

For those interested in other vintage and modern polygraph equipment, browse our classifieds section for listings such as the Lafayette LX5000 Polygraph System, the Advanced Axciton Polygraph System, the Used Stoelting CPS Pro System, or the Used Lafayette LX4000. For modern equipment leasing options, see the LX6 Lease Program. Those interested in becoming a polygraph examiner can visit our training page or explore how to become a polygraph examiner.