The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-04-27
CRIME DETECTOR.
Novel Method of Determining Guilt
Which Forces Confession.

In McClure's Magazine Prof. Mum
sterberg, OF Harvard, describes
method of detecting the innocence or
truthfulness Of suspected persons. He
considers that by his method the po-
lice Will be able to determine the in
nocence or guilt of a prisoner more
surely than by the present third de-
gree" procedure. The cooperation Of
the suspected person is necessary, and
this may seem a weak point in the
method, but If it is certain in it's re-
suits there will be no need for resis-
lance on the part of innocent people,
and withholding cooperation would
to certain extent imply guilt. The
professor says:
Suppose that both my subject and
I have little electrical instruments be-
tween the lips, which, by the least
movement of speaking, make or break
an electric current passing through
an electric clockwork whose index
moves around dial 10 times in every
second. One revolution of the index
thus means the tenth part of a sec
ond, and, as the whole dial is divided
into 100 parts, every division indicates
the thousandth part of a second. My
index stands quietly until I move my
lips to make, for instance the word
dog In that moment the electric
current causes the point to revolve.
My subject, Is soon as he hears the
word, Is to speak out as quickly as
possible the first association which
comes to his mind. He perhaps shouts
cat and the movement Of his lips
breaks the current, stops the pointer,
and thus allows me to read from the
clockwork in thOuSandth parts Of
second the time which passed between
my speaking the word and his nam
ing the association. OF course, this
time includes not only the time for
the process of association, but also the
time for the hearing of the word, for
the understanding, for the impulse
OF speaking, and so on. But all these
smaller periods I can easily deter
mine. I may find out how long it
takes If my subject does not associate
anything but simply repeats the word I
give him. If the mere repetition of
the word dog takes him O325 Sec
ond. while the bringing up Of the
word cat took 0.975, 1 conclude that
the difference Of O.650 was necessary
for the process Of associating cat.
and dog How the system works
may be best seen by an actual case.
An educated young man Of Is liv,
in the house of an uncle
The old gentleman went to consult a
nerve specialist in regard to some slight
nervous trouble of the younger friend.
On that occasion he conffded his recent
suspicion that the young man might be
thief. Money had repeatedly been ta-
ken from drawer and from a trunk
until lately ne nad mad suspicious only
Of the servants; he had notified the po-
lice and detectives and watched them.
He was most anxious to find out wheth-
er his new suspicion was true, as he
wanted, in that case, to keep the mat
ter out of court, in the interest of the
family. The physician, familiar with
the new psychological methods, ar
ranged that the young man come for
an examination of his nerves Then
he proposed to him a list of a hundred
associations as part of the medical in
spection. The physician said head
the patient associated 'nose;' then
green'-'blue,' 'water-'air,' long
short 'five'-'six,' 'wooP-'cloth,' and
so on. the average time of these COM
monplace connections being 16 seconds
But there were 81 dangerous words
scattered among the hundred-words
that had to do with the things in the
room from which the money was alb
stracted, or with the theft and its pun
ishment, or with some possible motives.
There appeared, for instance, the word
thief The association burglar seem.
ed quite natural. but it took the box
suddenly 4-6 seconds to reach it. In
the same way 'police'-'theft' took SO
seconds. 'jaiP-'penitentiar 42seconds.
In other cases the dangerous word
itself came with normal automatic