Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-28
TO CATCH CRIMINALS
Startling Theories Advanced by
Professor Muensterberg.
HOW ELECTRICITY is USED.

py 1aIvanometor Amount OF Mcnta
Excitement Prisoner on Trial Dis
playsd--CIaims List Of Hundre,
Wordsi Also Sure Detective Method
Professor Hugo Muensterberg o
Harvard university advanced two new
and startling theories for the detec
ton Of criminals by psychological
methods In an address on PSYCHOLOGY
and Crime" at the City club In Chi
cago the other afternoon.
The first was to measure the resist
ance of the body to an electric cur
rent to determine the subtlest varia
tons Of mental excitement. This might
be used to tell If a man is lying. The
second might be described as "catch
ing a criminal with a list Of loo
words"
"The mere fact that suspect shows
excitement when he Is being question.
ed may mean nothing. especially as
long as we cannot tell whether the
excitement Is due to the crime or the
strain of the criminal procedure" said
Professor Muensterberg But If he
becomes excited suddenly, when the
name Of hidden accomplice or the
location Of the crime is mentioned, this
ought to have considerable value. To
determine the existence of such men
tai excitement we have in the past
depended on instruments to measure
the acceleration of the pulse or quick
er breathing or muscular twitching.
But these are comparatively crude, and
with a new method we can determine
the most subtle mental excitement,
SO slight that none of these instru-
ments would note 1t. This is by means
Of galvanometer, which measures
the body's resistance to an electric
current passing through it. I have
determined that the sweat glands in
the skin are under the influence of the
emotions, and SO by placing the cleo
trodes in the hands Of the person to
be examined the resistance of the
skin to the current will betray even
the slightest emotional changes.
'The courts so far have had little to
do with psychologists, and the furthest
psychology has been applied In any
of them is to refuse to trust the optical
impressions of witness who is totally
blind or the acoustic reports of an abb
solutely deaf man. The subject Of
variations Of memory has had no place
in criminal procedure. Even an oath
means nothing in this way, for have
found by experiments that the subjec-
tive feeling Of intensified memory
which 1t seems to encourage in no way
makes witness safe from the tricks
Of the memory. Hypnotism has fig-
ured in the courts, but the popular i'm
preston has, as usual, been wrong.
No man can be hypnotized into COM
hitting crime.
"An interesting way of detecting
crime might be known as the 'associa-
tion Of ideas method Every time
word is spoken the hearer at once asso-
ciates some. other idea with it. I say
door, you think Of house or room
or whatever other notion fits first into
your head.
ITO show you how this will work In
the detection Of crime, let me tell you
of an experience had. A suspect had
been brought to me for psychological
test. He was perfectly frank and said
he did not even know why he should
be suspected of anything wrong. 1 re-
peated to him a list of 100 common
words and asked him to name the
first thing that occurred to his mind In
with each word. Then
noted the length Of time 1t took him to
answer by means Of stop watch. Out
Of the 100 words he replied to ninety
four with normal swiftness, between
and one and one-quarter
"But there were six words at which
bis mind halted for more than two and
a half seconds. He did not know
that he took longer to answer to these
words, nor did he know that I noticed
Il But the words were money bank
check 'forger,' prison. theft Flu
ture criminal proceedings were the re-
suit Of this test.
II have found that any man who has
committed crime always keeps in the
background Of his mind the memory
of that crime as an idea he wants TO
suppress. When anything Is suggest
d which In any way Is connected with
he idea be is trying to suppress, bis
mind becomes confused and slow. or
{ may become unduly excited, and he
nay blurt out word suggested only
BECAUSE Of the crime.
such a test Is one against which
10 shrewdness OF the witness and no
XIII Of his lawyer can protect a sus-
,ect The more he tries TO guard him.
elf the more certain he is to betray
himself.
But psychology has no standing in
he courts at present, and with some
4 the experiences which the public
Ias had with experts In recent years
do not think Il Is looking for more
( them. The only way that any
ever wants to be an ex-
'ert in court is to be entirely under
be jurisdiction Of the court and not
mployed by either side. We are not
Iandwriting experts"
I 49, Arrnna~rr.r& Eo~ ct.~. A., Ella