Shlomo (Sol) Kugelmass

Dr. Shlomo (Sol) Kugelmass, known as "Sonny" to colleagues, was a young lecturer at Columbia University in New York who immigrated to Israel with his family and in 1957 reopened the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He began research at Hadassah Hospital in the neurology department and was appointed chair of the psychology department, where he became a founding figure in establishing Israeli psychology as a rigorous empirical discipline. He served as Professor of Psychology at the Hebrew University, and his work spanned both psychophysiological research and broader areas of developmental and clinical psychology.

Kugelmass made significant early contributions to polygraph and deception detection research during the 1960s and 1970s, working primarily with colleagues Israel Lieblich and Gershon Ben-Shakhar. His 1967 study examined the role of "lying" in psychophysiological detection, exploring whether deception itself—as distinct from arousal or information detection—produced differential physiological responses. He co-authored studies on ethnic origin and GSR reactivity in psychophysiological detection (1968) and on experimental evaluation of galvanic skin response and blood pressure change indices during criminal interrogation. His research team's work was cited in the National Research Council's major 2003 report on polygraph testing, particularly regarding the Concealed Information Test (CIT), also known as the Guilty Knowledge Technique.

Kugelmass was acknowledged by Martin Orne and colleagues among leading polygraph researchers of the era, and his work with Ben-Shakhar and Lieblich on applying signal detection measures to the Guilty Knowledge Technique appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology. His research team pioneered the application of decision theory and signal detection theory to polygraph interrogation, examining detection efficiency, habituation processes, and the effects of realistic stress on lie detection accuracy. Their work emphasized psychophysiological baselines across diverse populations and explored cross-cultural dimensions of deception detection.

Beyond polygraph research, Kugelmass was a pioneering figure in Israeli psychology more broadly. A festschrift titled "Studies in Psychology in Honor of Solomon Kugelmass" was published by Hebrew University in 1995, and he conducted influential longitudinal research including the Israeli High-Risk Study examining schizophrenia across 25 years. His legacy includes establishing empirical, scientifically rigorous psychology in Israel and mentoring a generation of Israeli psychologists who became international leaders in the field.