History of The Meter
as we know it

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Swiss doctor and psychologist. A close associate of Sigmund Freud for a number of years, then went his own ways. C.G. Jung first reported on his findings of using a GSR Meter in 1907 in an article in "Journal of Abnormal Psychology". A summary in German is quoted below. It is from a German Bio feed-back website at: WWW.Skinktalk.de

The first scientist known to have used a Meter in psychological research was Tarchinoff, who in 1888 discovered the phenomenon of skin resistance. He found that a person's resistance to the passage of a tiny electric current through hand held electrodes would vary according to the subject's emotional state. The simple psycho-galvanometer he invented to investigate this phenomenon was one of the earliest tools of psychological research.
[Reference: www.Sobra.net]

History of the GSR Meter, E-Meter, Ohm-Meter, Polygraph, Galvano-Meter, Electropsycho-Meter, Pneu-Meter, etc. in psychological research.

From Sobra Net:

The Ohm-meter:
A wheatstone bridge measures changes in resistance. Ohm’s law is E=IR tells us voltage is related to amperage and resistance. The nervous system operates with electrical impulses that are affected by one’s physical, mental and spiritual condition. Today, meters used in research measure the changes in resistance that affect the body. An un-influenced female body registers at 5000 ohms; an un-influenced male body at 12,500 ohms.

In 1888, Tarchinoff discovered the phenomenon of skin resistance. He found that a person's resistance to the passage of a tiny electric current through hand held electrodes would vary according to the subject's emotional state. The simple psycho-galvanometer he invented to investigate this phenomenon was one of the earliest tools of psychological research.

An axiom originated by Freud is that we are restricted from realizing more than a fraction of our full potential because of the repressed negative content of the unconscious mind: negative fears, resentments, motivations and dislikes. When the content is made conscious and confronted, it dissolves and loses its power to restrain thought and action. The meter is an effective diagnostic tool and time-saver in helping to locate this negative content. An adept doesn’t have to spend years of blind probing to find out the root of a problem. With professional training he can find and identify any negative energy caused by sources of resistance affecting a person, then help him discharge it.

In, Studies in Word Analysis, published by Carl Gustav Jung in 1906, he describes a technique for connecting the subject, via hand electrodes, to an instrument measuring changes in the resistance --while words are read to him from a prepared list. If a word on this list was emotionally charged, there was a change in body resistance that caused a deflection of the needle on the galvanometer.

This method of research was again referred to in a 1926 text entitled Experimental Psychology by Mary Collins and James Dreaver, lecturers in psychology at the University of Edinburgh. At that time, others were also researching the electrical characteristics of emotion and thought. Semon in his book The Mneme, circa 1915, defines an ‘engram’ as the permanent change produced within an organism from a stimulus, where a trace of the experience of that stimulus is "written on" the organism and forms part of memory. When the stimulus is repeated, the nerve energy flows through this new engram causing an aberrant reaction. Knowledge of these findings was widespread in the 1920's and are referred to in a classroom text called The Psychology of the Thinker by l.B. Saxby, Lecturer in Education at the University College, Cardiff.

The early psycho-galvanometer was not simple to use. It had no amplification and it remained as a specialized laboratory instrument until the development of more sophisticated amplifiers in the 1930's.

A number of biofeedback instruments have been invented, including the Electroencephalograph. The EEG is used by a wide range of therapists. Janov used the EEG to evaluate the effectiveness of cathartic therapy. Osteopaths have used a modified form of skin resistance meter for diagnostic purposes.

In the late 1940's an independent American researcher, Volney Mathison, working with the Polygraph Lie-detector kindled a renewed interest in the earlier work of Jung and others. When a person was reminded of certain past events, the needle in the detector would jump erratically --the degree of jump was in proportion to the strength of the unconscious reaction. In skilled hands a meter could be used to locate a particular content, its location in space and time, and the amount of force contained within..

This work led to the development of the modern meter designed to register general mental and emotional responses of a person to a word, question or situation, rather than as a lie-detector. These meters are several times more sensitive than lie-detectors.

In 1952, Volney Mathison presented these ideas to Ron Hubbard. He and his auditors were using Dianetics to ‘Clear’ people --based upon the mind as a computer type model where the engrams could be erased. Later, Hubbard’s version of the meter known as the E-Meter (Electro-psychometer) was put into widespread use in conjunction with his auditing procedures --a few of which resembled Jung's method of reading a list of words while the individual under analysis held the electrodes. Some words would trigger a response -- once the locked-up energy was discharged from the situation or concept under discussion, the meter would no longer respond to that word or concept.

note:
The negative energy or charge isn’t always composed of exactly the same type of mass as there are quality variations in sources of resistance. Facsimiles of matter, energy, space and time created by different beings can be based on different theories of relativity for different universes or dimensions. The common denominators can be broken down into: facsimiles, (+s) pushes, (-s) pulls, (+/-s) ridges which are a mix, or neutrals that aren’t involved except in a spectator mode, connections, and intentions.

Sobra
(fair use quote)

C.G. Jung first reported on his findings of using a GSR Meter in 1907 in an article in "Journal of Abnormal Psychology". A summary in German is quoted below. It is from a German Bio feed-back website at: WWW.Sinktalk.de

C.G. Jung's findings are also summarized in English in Peter Shepard's article.

Die Wortassoziationsexperimente von C.G.Jung
 
Selbst am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts hört sich die Behauptung, es gäbe ein Experiment, das Gefühle objektiv widerspiegelt, in den Ohren mancher Laien äußerst gewagt an.
 
Doch bereits im Jahr 1907 schrieb Carl Gustav Jung einen Artikel für das "Journal of Abnormal Psychology", in dem er anschaulich die ersten Gehversuche der Wissenschaft in diesem Bereich beschreibt. Jung bezieht sich hier insbesondere auf einen Vortrag von Doktor Veraguth, den dieser 1906 auf dem Kongreß für experimentelle Psychologie in Würzburg gehalten hatte. Just dort also, wo mehr als 90 Jahre später das SkinTalk-Projekt aus der Taufe gehoben wurde.
 
Veraguth stellte damals das von ihm als "galvano-psychophysische Reflexe" bezeichnete Phänomen einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit vor - nämlich elektrische Niedrigspannung im menschlichen Körper.
 
Für C. G. Jung aber war ein späteres Ergebnis von Veraguths Experimenten von weit größerem Interesse: die Erwartungsschwankung, also das Phänomen, daß die bloße Erwähnung eines Begriffs bereits für meßbare elektrische Schwankungen auf der menschlichen Haut sorgt. Veraguth hatte aus diesem Umstand den Schluß gezogen, daß Gefühle auf diese Weise objektiv widergespiegelt werden. Jung beschäftigt sich in seinem Artikel vor allem mit seinen ersten praktischen Ergebnissen zu dieser These.
 
Jungs erster Schritt war die Eigenkonstruktion eines Gerätes, welches in der Lage war, Meßkurven über einen hinreichend langen Zeitraum - wie er beispielsweise für die bekannten Wortassoziationsversuche (zum Beispiel: Hund - Knochen) benötigt wird - zu produzieren.
 
Des weiteren justierte Jung seinen Apparat so, daß lediglich jene Assoziationsbegriffe, die überdurchschnittlich starke Reaktionen hervorrufen, ein Ansteigen der Meßkurve bewirken.
 
Selbstkritisch merkte Jung hierzu an, daß die Interpretation solcher Ergebnisse eher eine Kunst als eine Wissenschaft wäre.
 
Dennoch gibt es einige schöne Beispiele dafür, daß bereits diese antiquiert anmutenden Methoden erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeigten.
 
Zur Veranschaulichung mag das Experiment eines Mannes dienen, von dem zu Beginn der Untersuchung nichts weiter bekannt war, als der Umstand, daß er Abstinenzler war: Bezahlen - Geld Schlange - Tier Gut - schön Liebe - Haß Hilfe - Beistand Restaurant - Nichtalkoholiker Poliert - Glas Soldat - Militär Schreiben - Brief Fernglas - klar Voll - Mann Intelligenz - glaubwürdig Hier zeigt sich nach der Nennung des sechsten Begriffes ein erster starker Ausschlag auf dem "Galvanometer". Der Begriff lautete Restaurant und die Assoziation Nichtalkoholiker. Der Erregungszustand blieb über eine Reihe von Begriffen hinweg bestehen und erreichte einen weiteren starken Ausschlag bei dem Begriffspaar "voll" und "Mann".
 
Bei einem anschließenden Gespräch zeigte sich, daß die Versuchsperson eine lange Gefängnisstrafe aufgrund von Gewalt nach Alkoholgenuß hinter sich hatte.
 
Jung schloß seinen Artikel dahingehend ab, daß auf diesem Forschungsgebiet noch erstaunliche Ergebnisse zu erwarten seien: Die Ergebnisse und Entwicklungen der Biofeedbackforschung im ausgehenden 20. Jahrhundert haben seine Einschätzung mehr als bestätigt.
 
Ohne Verstärkung blieb die Verwendung der Hautwiderstandsmessung jedoch umständlich und verschwand erneut als Kuriosität in den Laboratorien der Wissenschaftler. Erst in den 30er Jahren, als die Erfindung geeigneter Ventilverstärker (valve amplifiers) die Messung einfacher machte, konnten tragbare und verstärkte Meßinstrumente gebaut werden.

About Bio-feedback - in German on web. [skintalk.de].

Also read History of the CB-Meter 
in Free Spirit Magazine.
Adapted from an article by Gregory Mitchell.

Also read Peter Shepard's account of the History
This is part of the GSR Course
which in its entirety is 
available for download.