Galvanometric Technique in Studies of Association

Abstract

During the past two decades recurrent use has been made of the psychogalvanic response in attempts to measure the affective values of words, in the detection of 'guilt,' and in clinical studies of emotional complexes.The major portion of this work has been of a tentative and exploratory nature, with estimates of the method ranging from the very confident claims of Whately Smith2 to opinions less wholly enthusiastic.3 It would appear that progress has been slow, and that technical difficulties have discouraged many psychologists from continuing in this field. It is of course true that the psychogalvanic response involves a delicate and complex procedure, with many variable factors having to do with the electrodes, the E.M.F., the area and location of the skin contacts, the coil suspension, and the processes of recording the deflections. Irregularities or lack of standardization at any one of these points may result in grave disturbance of the data. In the present report, the writers are concerned not with matters of apparatus technique which have been held as constant as possible,' but with the effect of alterations in the schedule of stimuli, and the influence of sequence and temporal position in series.