William Moulton Marston, also known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the polygraph. He was also known as a self-help author and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman.
William Moulton Marston in 1938
William Marston (right) in 1922, testing his lie detector invention
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a junk science device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked and answers a series of questions. The belief underpinning the use of the polygraph is that deceptive answers will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive answers; however, there are no specific physiological reactions associated with lying, making it difficult to identify factors that separate those who are lying from those who are telling the truth.
American inventor Leonarde Keeler (1903–1949) testing his improved polygraph on Kohler, a former witness for the prosecution at the 1935 trial of Richard Hauptmann
Demonstrating the administration of the polygraph, the polygrapher making notes on the readouts. 1970s
Brochure of the Defense Security Service (DSS) about polygraph testing