Lie Detection: Its History, Methods and Techniques

Early comprehensive account documenting the transition from ancient ordeals to scientific deception detection instruments.

Historical or foundational research contributing to the development of modern polygraph science and practice.

Summers provided an early comprehensive history of lie detection, documenting the transition from ancient trial-by-ordeal methods to the development of scientific instruments. This historical perspective shows that the desire to determine truthfulness is a universal human concern that has existed across all cultures and time periods.

The historical continuity of truth verification practices provides cultural context for modern polygraph testing.

Background & Context

Reverend Walter G. Summers, S.J., Ph.D., was a pioneering figure in the scientific study of deception detection during the 1930s. As head of Fordham University's psychology department, Summers brought a unique combination of backgrounds in physics, theology, and physiology to the emerging field of psychophysiological lie detection. His work during this critical period documented both the historical evolution of truth verification practices and the contemporary development of scientific instrumentation.

The late 1930s represented a pivotal moment in polygraph history, with competing approaches and instruments vying for acceptance in both academic and forensic contexts. Summers' development of the "Pathometer" had excited considerable interest and criticism, with the apparatus being used in over six thousand laboratory experiments and about fifty actual criminal cases. His historical perspective provided crucial context for understanding why scientific lie detection represented a revolutionary departure from centuries of superstition and cruelty.

Summers' contributions were cut tragically short when he died in September 1938 following a second heart attack, just months after his high-profile appearance in a New York courtroom case. His work on documenting lie detection history and methods provides an invaluable window into how early practitioners understood their field's origins and trajectory.

Research Design & Methodology

Summers' approach to documenting lie detection was fundamentally historical and comparative in nature. His work traced the evolution of truth verification from ancient trial-by-ordeal methods through various cultural practices to the emergence of scientific instrumentation in the early 20th century. This scholarship drew on anthropological, historical, and scientific sources to demonstrate the universal human concern with detecting deception.

Summers personally conducted extensive research using his "Pathometer," an electrodermal recorder that measured galvanic skin response, reporting a success rate of more than 98% though the vast majority of tests were on students in laboratory settings. His methodological approach involved constructing series of test questions and recording electrodermal response amplitudes during presentation. His technique distinguished between "significant questions" (relevant) and "nonsignificant questions" (irrelevant), and he claimed tremendous success with about 50 criminal suspects, though his verification criteria would not meet current standards.

In summer 1936, Summers and police conducted a comparative experiment using both the Keeler polygraph and the Fordham psychogalvanometer on 271 subjects, with the Summers device performing at 98% to 100% accuracy compared to 50% for the Keeler instrument. This empirical work complemented his historical scholarship by demonstrating the superiority of electrodermal measurement over multi-channel approaches—a controversial finding that sparked significant debate in the field.

Results & Key Findings

Summers documented the remarkable continuity of human truth-seeking efforts across millennia, demonstrating that the desire to determine truthfulness transcended all cultures and historical periods. His historical analysis revealed how societies progressed from brutal and unreliable methods like trial by ordeal, boiling water tests, and torture to increasingly sophisticated physiological observation techniques.

Key historical findings from Summers' work and the period included:

• The Pathometer apparatus achieved 98% to 100% accuracy in laboratory experiments, with Summers attributing his failure to attain perfect consistency to "the laboratory situation"
• In head-to-head comparisons with the Keeler polygraph system, the Pathometer performed nearly twice as effectively, results announced at the 1936 American Psychological Association meeting
• The transition from ancient ordeals to scientific measurement represented a fundamental shift from superstition to empiricism in credibility assessment
• Summers' work on galvanic skin response directly influenced Leonarde Keeler's addition of the GSR channel to the polygraph in 1938

Summers' historical research established that physiological responses to deception-related stress had been observed for centuries, from ancient Greek physicians measuring pulse to medieval ordeals that inadvertently exploited fear responses. His documentation showed how modern polygraph science built upon this accumulated folk wisdom while applying rigorous scientific methodology.

Discussion & Significance

Summers' historical work provided critical intellectual legitimacy to polygraph science during a formative period when the field faced skepticism from both scientific and legal communities. By demonstrating that truth verification was a universal human concern with deep historical roots, he helped contextualize modern instrumentation as the culmination of millennia of observation rather than a radical departure from tradition.

The Pathometer's focus on electrodermal activity alone—measuring only skin electrical conductivity—represented a philosophically different approach from multi-channel polygraphs. Summers believed that galvanic skin response provided the most reliable single indicator of deception-related arousal, a perspective that influenced instrument design debates for decades. His comparative research challenged the prevailing assumption that more physiological channels necessarily yielded better accuracy.

The timing of Summers' work proved particularly significant. His March 1938 testimony in The People v. Kenny represented the first use of a lie detector device in a New York City court, resulting in an acquittal and generating national headlines. This high-profile case, occurring just months before his death, demonstrated the growing forensic acceptance of scientific lie detection and validated his historical argument that society was ready to replace barbaric truth-testing methods with scientific instrumentation.

Limitations & Considerations

Summers acknowledged that his claimed 98-100% accuracy was not consistently attainable, attributing imperfection to "the laboratory situation" rather than fundamental limitations of the technique. Modern reviewers have noted significant methodological concerns with his verification standards. The vast majority of his tests were conducted on students in laboratory settings rather than actual criminal suspects, and his criterion for verification in the approximately 50 criminal cases would not meet current standards of proof.

The historical nature of his work meant that it represented descriptive scholarship rather than controlled empirical research on the historical methods themselves. Additionally, Summers' premature death in the late 1930s meant that interest in his specific approach waned, though his colleagues including Jacques Bril and Joseph F. Kubis continued promoting psychogalvanometers for forensic use. The single-channel approach ultimately lost favor to multi-channel polygraph systems, though Summers' emphasis on electrodermal response remained a core component of modern instruments.

Practical Applications

Summers' historical documentation provided polygraph examiners and researchers with essential context for understanding their profession's place in the broader human quest for truth. His work demonstrated that scientific lie detection was not an aberration but rather a natural evolution of universal human concerns about deception. This historical grounding helped practitioners articulate the legitimacy and necessity of their work to skeptical audiences in both courtrooms and laboratories.

For contemporary consumers and policy makers, Summers' historical research offers a sobering reminder that humanity's ancient desperation to detect deception led to centuries of barbaric and ineffective methods. His documentation of the transition from torture and ordeal to scientific measurement underscores both how far the field has progressed and why continued refinement of scientific methodology remains essential. The universal cultural presence of truth-verification practices validates the human need for credibility assessment tools while simultaneously warning against overconfidence in any single technique's infallibility.