psychogalvanometer

[ sahy-koh-gal-vuh-nom-i-ter ]

noun

, Medicine/Medical.

1. a type of galvanometer for detecting and measuring psychogalvanic currents.

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychogalvanometer¹

First recorded in 1930–35; psycho- + galvanometer

Example Sentences

Thereupon the judge called in a psychologist and tested Goldman with a psychogalvanometer which, by recording electrical impulses in a man's skin, is supposed to show whether he answers questions truthfully.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ph.D., head of Fordham University's department of psychology, the psychogalvanometer works not on the heart and lungs but on the minute electrical currents coursing through the body.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tested last week in Manhattan was another such instrument�the psychogalvanometer.

From Time Magazine Archive