View source for E-meter

{{Short description|Device that measures electrical charges on skin}}
{{For|the scientific instrument|electrometer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Scientology e meter blue.jpg|thumb|A Scientology E-Meter]]
{{Scientology sidebar}}
The '''E-Meter''' (also '''electropsychometer''' and '''Hubbard Electrometer''') is an electronic device used in [[Scientology]] that allegedly "registers emotional reactions".<ref>{{Cite book |title=America's Alternative Religions |first=Timothy |last=Miller |year=1995 |isbn=0-7914-2398-0 |ol=1092279M |page=386|publisher=SUNY Press }}</ref> After claims by [[L. Ron Hubbard]] that the procedures of [[Auditing (Scientology)|auditing]], which used the E-Meter, could help heal diseases, the E-Meter became the subject of litigation.<ref name="skelley"/><ref name="scribd.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/5024758/Court-Order-FDA-Scientology-Dianetics-Hubbard-Emeter |title=Court Order - FDA - Scientology Dianetics Hubbard E-meter |website=Scribd.com |date=August 25, 2008 |access-date=June 3, 2012}}</ref><ref name="CanTimesJun1964"/> Since then, the [[Church of Scientology]] publishes disclaimers declaring that the E-Meter "by itself does nothing", is incapable of improving health, and is used solely for spiritual purposes.<ref name="insideVII">{{cite web |last1=Touretzky |first1=Dave |title=Inside the Mark Super VII |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Meter/Mark-VII/ |access-date=January 5, 2016 |website=Secrets of Scientology |quote=By itself, this meter does nothing. It is solely for the guide of Ministers of the Church in Confessionals and pastoral counselling. The Electrometer is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily function of anyone and is for religious use by students and Ministers of the Church of Scientology only.}}</ref>

==History==

=== Mathison ===

[[File:Mathison-2684670.PNG|thumb|Illustration provided by Volney Mathison in the original 1951 patent application for the E-Meter, registered as {{US patent|2684670}}.|alt=Schematic of electronics for Mathison E-Meter and sketch of use]]
[[Volney Mathison]] built an [[Electrodermal activity|EDA meter]] based on a [[Wheatstone bridge]],{{Efn|Quotation: "Technically it is a specially developed 'Wheatstone Bridge' well known to electrically minded people as a device to measure the amount of resistance to a flow of electricity."{{r|wheatstone}} Reproduced and cited in The Kotzé Report, Section III, Chapter 8 § 8.7(b).{{r|kotze}} }} a [[vacuum tube]] [[amplifier]], and a large [[moving-coil meter]] that projected an image of the needle on the wall. He patented his device in 1954 as an ''electropsychometer'' or E-meter,<ref name="singh">{{cite book | last =Singh | first =Simon | author-link = Simon Singh |author2=Edzard Ernst | title =Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine | publisher =W. W. Norton & Company | year =2008 | pages =163–65 | isbn = 978-0-393-06661-6| title-link =Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine }}</ref> and it came to be known as the "Mathison Electropsychometer".<ref name="freeman">{{cite book | last =Freeman | first =John | title =Suppressed and Incredible Inventions | publisher =Health Research | year =1987 | page =41 | isbn = 978-0-7873-1091-2}}</ref> In Mathison's words, the E-meter "has a needle that swings back and forth across a scale when a patient holds on to two electrical contacts".<ref name="singh" /> Mathison recorded in his book, ''Electropsychometry'', that the idea of the E-Meter came to him in 1950 while listening to a lecture by [[L. Ron Hubbard]]:<ref name=Garrison>{{Cite book|title = The Hidden Story of Scientology|last = Garrison|first = Omar V.|publisher = The Citadel Press|year = 1974|isbn = 978-0-8065-0440-7 |ol=5071463M |location = Secaucus, New Jersey|url = https://archive.org/details/hiddenstoryofsci00garr}}</ref>{{Rp|64}}
{{blockquote |In 1950&nbsp;... I next attended a series of lectures being given by a very controversial figure, who several times emphasized that perhaps the major problem of psychotherapy was the difficulty of maintaining the communication of accurate or valid data from the patient to the therapist.<ref name="mathison-e"/>{{Rp|101}} }}
and
{{blockquote |it appeared to me that the psychogalvanometer showed most promise.<ref name="mathison-e">{{Cite book|title = Electropsychometry|last = Mathison|first = Volney G.|publisher = Mathison Psychometers|year = 1954|location = Los Angeles|edition = 4|url = https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/E-Meter/Electropsychometry.pdf}}</ref>{{Rp|104}}}}
Hubbard told of that encounter in a 1952 recorded lecture:
{{blockquote |This machine, the electropsychometer, has been acting as a pilot since about the first of January 1952. Very early I wanted a pilot; I had to have some method of metering preclears which was not dependent at all upon opinion or judgment. And I went out and looked at the existing lie detector equipment and I could not find anything which would do a job of work. Now, Volney Mathison out on the Coast heard a talk out there one day, and I mentioned this fact.&nbsp;... I had one of the fanciest electroencephalographs made and it didn't do anything very much, police detectors didn't do anything very much, and Mathison went to work and he floated a current within a current. This machine is relatively simple, but it's a current floating inside another current&nbsp;... And I am, by the way, very much indebted to Mathison just on this basis of all of a sudden having a pilot.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Taped Lecture: How to Audit a Theta Line, Parts I and II|last = Hubbard|first = L. Ron|publisher = Church of Scientology|date=1952-04-16|url = http://www.matrixfiles.com/Scientology%20Materials/Tapes%20in%20order/5200c00%20tape%20transcripts/PDF/5204C16C%20HOW%20TO%20AUDIT%20A%20THETA%20LINE,%20PARTS%20I%20AND%20II.PDF|ref = 5204C16C|access-date = 2015-06-10|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150122082306/http://www.matrixfiles.com/Scientology%20Materials/Tapes%20in%20order/5200c00%20tape%20transcripts/PDF/5204C16C%20HOW%20TO%20AUDIT%20A%20THETA%20LINE,%20PARTS%20I%20AND%20II.PDF|archive-date = 2015-01-22|url-status = dead}}</ref>}}

Mathison began working with L. Ron Hubbard in 1951<ref name=":5">{{cite magazine | title = Remember Venus? | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889564,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070319191254/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889564,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = March 19, 2007 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = December 22, 1952 | access-date = January 28, 2008 }}</ref> and that year filed application for his first E-meter patent, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US2684670 U.S. Patent 2,684,670]. After the partnership broke up in 1954, Mathison continued improving his E-meters with additional patents ({{US patent|2736313}}, {{US patent|2810383}}), marketing them through his own company and publications, retaining many of the concepts and terms from his time with Hubbard.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mathison|first1=Volney|title=Electropsychometry|date=1952|publisher=Mathison Electropsychometers|location=Los Angeles|page=1|edition=4|url=http://www.lermanet.com/exit/volney/Electropsychometry-4%231AF837.jpg|access-date=May 12, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607105336/http://www.lermanet.com/exit/volney/Electropsychometry-4%231AF837.jpg |archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>

In a separate line of development, EDA monitors were incorporated in [[polygraph]] machines by [[Leonarde Keeler]]. Rigorous testing of the polygraph has yielded mixed results, and some critics classify polygraph operation as a [[pseudoscience]].{{r|fas|APA2004}}

=== Hubbard ===

{{multiple image|perrow = 1|total_width=250|align=right |header=Chronology of e-meter models
|image1 = Mark V E-meter.jpg
|image2 = Scientology - The E-Meter.jpg
|image3 = Scientology e meters green black cropped.jpg
|image4 = Mark VIII E-Meter.jpg
|footer = Mark V, Mark VI, Mark Super VII Quantum, and Mark VIII Ultra e-meters
}}
The E-meter was adopted for use in [[Dianetics]] and [[Scientology]] when Mathison collaborated with Hubbard in 1951.<ref name=":5"/> Some sources say the E-meter was "developed by Volney Mathison following Hubbard's designs",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|title=Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology|date=2000|publisher=Signature Books, Inc.|location=United States of America|isbn=978-1-56085-139-4|page=10}}<!--|access-date=9 May 2015--></ref> or that Hubbard invented it.<ref name=robbers>{{cite book |editor1-last=Barrett |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Wallace |editor2-first=Janssen |year=1993 |chapter=The Gadgeteers |first=Wallace F. |last=Janssen |title=The Health Robbers : A Close Look at Quackery in America |pages=330–332 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo NY |isbn=9780879758554 |ol=8130932M |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/healthrobberscl00barr/page/330 }}</ref> Hubbard falsely claimed to be the inventor of the E-meter, a claim which is in keeping with the Scientology stance that Hubbard is the "source", or "the only originator of all Dianetics and Scientology material".<ref name="asrr201662323">{{cite journal |title=Rethinking Scientology A Thorough Analysis of L. Ron Hubbard's Formulation of Therapy and Religion in Dianetics and Scientology, 1950–1986 |journal=Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review |volume=7 |pages=155–227 |date=June 24, 2016 |last=Christensen |first=Dorthe Refslund |doi=10.5840/asrr201662323 }}</ref>

The E-meter was not part of the early days of Dianetics and Scientology. Auditing was composed of conversation and not led by a mechanical device. Hubbard introduced an E-meter prototype during the 1952 Philadelphia Doctorate Course but did not introduce his transistorized version until several years later. The E-meter became "the principal material artifact" of Dianetics and Scientology from the 1960s onward.<ref name="Cowan 2014">{{cite conference |last=Cowan |first=Douglas E. |title=Acta Comparanda, French |url=http://www.observatoire-religion.com/2016/12/scientology-in-a-scholarly-perspective/ |book-title=Clearly Material: Objects, Meaning, and the Ongoing Construction of New Religious Reality |conference=International Conference – Scientology in a scholarly perspective 24-25th January 2014 |publisher=University of Antwerp, Faculty for Comparative Study of Religions and Humanism |place=Antwerp, Belgium |year=2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216050903/http://www.observatoire-religion.com/2016/12/scientology-in-a-scholarly-perspective/ |archive-date=February 16, 2017 }}</ref>

In the book, ''[[L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?]]'', [[Bent Corydon]] wrote:

{{blockquote|In late 1954 the use of the E-meter was discontinued by Hubbard. Wrote Hubbard: "Yesterday, we used an instrument called an E-Meter to register whether or not the process was still getting results so that the auditor would know how long to continue it. While the E-Meter is an interesting investigation instrument and has played its part in research, it is not today used by the auditor&nbsp;... As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session&nbsp;..."<ref name="Corydon313">{{cite book |last=Corydon |first=Bent |author-link=Bent Corydon |title=L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? |title-link=L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? |year=1987 |publisher=[[Lyle Stuart]] |isbn=0818404442 |page=313 }}</ref>{{efn|name=dewolfaffidavit}} }}

Though it seemed for a while that Scientology's more advanced techniques would serve without an E-meter, a few months later in May 1955, Hubbard wrote:

{{blockquote|And here come E-Meters back into the picture. The [[Hubbard Association of Scientologists International|HASI]] is, at this moment, building a new and better E-Meter than has ever been built before, under the trademarked name of Physio-galvanometer, or O-Meter. It has very little in common with the old type E-Meter. Nevertheless, an old type E-Meter can be utilized.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hubbard |first=L. Ron |title=Professional Auditor's Bulletin No. 52 — Auditing the "Whole Track" |date=13 May 1955 |publisher=Hubbard Communication Office |location=London, UK |url=https://archive.org/details/technicalbulleti0000hubb/page/195/mode/1up?view=theater}} On page 195 in ''The Technical Bulletins of Dianetics and Scientology, Volume II, 1954–1956'', (1976) {{ISBN|0884040429}} {{OL|39796274M}}</ref>}}

The Scientology meter was smaller, based on [[transistors]] rather than [[vacuum tubes]], and powered by a low-voltage [[rechargeable battery]] rather than [[Mains electricity|line voltage]].

From then on, the E-meter was a required tool for Scientology ministers. The "Hubbard Mark II" E-meter was christened in 1960 and the Hubbard Mark III shortly after.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=Boyd|title=What is Scientology? History, Beliefs, Rules, Secrets, and Facts|date=2014|publisher=Speedy Publishing|location=Newark, Delaware|page=5|edition=1}}</ref> On December 6, 1966, Hubbard won a patent on the Mark V version under the name "Hubbard Electropsychometer". Corydon wrote that the Hubbard E-meter was actually developed by Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis,<ref name="Corydon313" />{{efn|name=dewolfaffidavit}} though the patent ({{US patent|3290589}}) does not list other developers.

The Scientology E-meter has been redesigned and re-patented several times since its first introduction to Dianetics (e.g.: {{US patent|4459995}}, {{US patent|4578635}}, {{US patent|4702259}}).

=== Earlier similar devices ===

[[Electrodermal activity]] meters were first developed in 1889 in Russia, and psychotherapists began using them as tools for therapy in the 1900s.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/junglect.html|title = Notes on Carl Gustav Jung|access-date = April 4, 2015|website = Sonoma State University|last = Daniels|first = Victor|quote=By 1906 [Jung] was using GSR and breath measurement to note changes in respiration and skin resistance to emotionally charged worlds. Found that indicators cluster around stimulus words which indicate the nature of the subject's complexes&nbsp;... Much later L. Ron Hubbard used this approach in Scientology's 'auditing', using the 'e-meter' (a galvanic skin response indicator) to discern the presence of complexes. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419110943/http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/junglect.html |archive-date=April 19, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Binswanger|first = L.|editor-last = Jung|editor-first = Carl|title = Studies in Word-Association |date = 1919|publisher = Moffat, Yard & Company|location = New York, NY|pages = 446 et seq|chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/studiesinwordass00jung#page/446/mode/2up/search/psychogalvanic|access-date = March 30, 2015|chapter = XII. On the Psychogalvanaic Phenomenon in Association Experiments |ol=23343062M}}</ref><ref name="andersonreport">{{cite web |title=Report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology |url=https://archive.org/details/vparl-1965-66-no-9-recognized/mode/1up?view=theater |first=Kevin Victor |last=Anderson |author-link=Kevin Victor Anderson |year=1965 |publisher=Government Printer, Melbourne |page=95|quote=The E-meter is not a new type of instrument. It is one which is well known to science and has been in use in one form or another for many years. As early as the 1920s, experiments were conducted in psychological research with what was then called an electro-galvanometer or psychogalvanometer.}} ([https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/andrhome.html HTML version])</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://scientology101.org/scientology-secrets/technology/technical-developments/|title = Possible origins for Dianetics and Scientology|access-date = April 2, 2015|website = Scientology 101|last = Atack|first = Jon|date = June 6, 2014|quote=Some form of 'E-meter' has actually been in use since before WWI}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=You can learn control of how your skin talks|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/61192107/|access-date=April 8, 2015|agency=The San Bernardino County Sun|publisher=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=October 11, 1977|location=San Bernardino, California|page=12|quote=Current research using the skin's electrical activity as a communications medium between patient and therapist looks promising in such stress problems as drug abuse, alcoholism, neuroses and other tension states. |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Use in Scientology ==

[[File:Scientology Auckland Org auditing machine 20170121 160007.jpg|thumb|Demonstration of auditing, showing position of e-meter—auditor in foreground, preclear in background]]
[[File:Scientology Free Stress Test.jpg|thumb|Using an e-meter to perform the [[stress testing|stress test]], a recruiting tool]]

E-meters are used by Scientology practitioners known as "[[auditing (Scientology)|auditors]]". Scientology materials refer to the subject as the "[[preclear]]".{{Efn|The person was originally called a '''pre'''clear, because the end goal of early auditing was to reach the "[[clear (Scientology)|State of Clear]]". However, auditing occurs well beyond the State of Clear while Hubbard's instructions continue to call the person being audited a preclear.}} The auditor gives the preclear a series of commands or questions while the preclear holds a pair of cylindrical [[electrodes]] ("cans") connected to the meter, and the auditor notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training includes familiarization with a number of [[Auditing (Scientology)#Terminology|characteristic needle movements]], each with a specific significance.{{r|howtheemeterworks}} Religion scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen describes the e-meter as "a technical device that could help the auditor locate engrams and areas of change when auditing a [[Clear (Scientology)|preclear]]".{{r|asrr201662323}}

Scientology concepts associated with the E-meter and its use are regarded by the scientific and medical communities as [[pseudoscience]], as the E-meter has never been subjected to [[clinical trial]]s as a therapeutic tool.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Inside Scientology Reaching for the Stars|series=Nightline |network=ABC |date=October 23, 2009}}</ref>

Scientologists claim that in the hands of a trained operator, the meter can indicate whether a person has been relieved from the spiritual impediment of past experiences.<ref>Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights, {{ISBN|90-247-2383-3}}</ref> In accordance with a 1974 federal court order, the Church of Scientology asserts that the E-meter is intended for use only in church-sanctioned auditing sessions; it is not a curative or medical device.<ref>Religionsfreiheit und Konformismus: Über Minderheiten und die Macht der Mehrheit, Gerhard Besier, 2004. {{ISBN|3-8258-7654-3}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=3v4xJfq9B88C&dq=hubbard+electrometer+artefact&pg=PA177]</ref> The E-meters used by the Church were previously manufactured by Scientologists at their [[Gold Base]] facility,<ref name="Sptimes.com">{{cite news|first=Thomas C |last=Tobin |title=A place called 'Gold' |url=http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologygold.html |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=October 25, 1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991112082952/http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologygold.html |archive-date=November 12, 1999 }}</ref> but were being manufactured in [[Hong Kong]] and [[Taiwan]] as of 1998.<ref name="Sptimes.com" />

According to Hubbard, the E-meter is used by the operator for three vital functions:
# To determine what process to run and what to run it on.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hubbard|first=L Ron|title=Unreading Questions and Items|journal=HCO Bulletin |date=May 27, 1970}}</ref>
# To observe how well the process is running.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hubbard|first=L Ron|title=SOP Goals|journal=HCO Bulletin |date=February 18, 1961}}</ref>
# To know when the process should be stopped.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hubbard|first=L Ron|title=Floating Needles and End Phenomena|journal=HCO Bulletin |date=February 20, 1970}}</ref>
The Church claims that the E-meter can be used to assess the emotional charge of single words, whole sentences, and questions, as well as indicating the general state of the subject when the operator is not speaking.{{r|howtheemeterworks}} Few users of the E-meter claim that it does anything to the subject. To most, it does no more than suggest to the operator a change of mental, emotional, or autonomic nervous system activity.<ref name="Lebron-1">{{cite book|last1=Lebron|first1=Robyn|title=Searching for Spiritual Unity... Can There Be Common Ground?|date=January 13, 2012|publisher=CrossBooks|isbn=9781462719525|page=549|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJQZ83QrqEIC&pg=PA549|access-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cavanaugh|first1=Jeanne|title=Scientology and the FDA: A Look Back, A Modern Analysis, And A New Approach|date=April 27, 2004|publisher=Harvard University|location=Boston|url=http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8965552/Cavanaugh.html?sequence=2|access-date=April 2, 2015|quote=As described, Scientology does not assert that the E-meter can directly cure or mitigate disease; rather, the E-meter plays a vital role in the allegedly illness-alleviating process of auditing by identifying the presence and location of the cause of psychosomatic illnesses. Other systems work to actually accomplish the discharge of illness-causing agents.}}</ref>

New religious movement scholar Douglas Cowan writes that Scientologists cannot progress along [[the Bridge to Total Freedom]] without an E-meter, and that Hubbard even told Scientologists to buy two E-meters, in the event that one of them fails to operate.<ref name="Cowan 2014"/> According to anthropologist Roy Rappaport, the E-meter is a ritual object, an object that "stand[s] indexically for something intangible".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements |volume=1 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |publisher=OUP USA |year=2008 |isbn=9780195369649 }}</ref>

=== Other uses ===

Similar devices have been used as research tools in many [[human studies]] and as one of several components of the [[Leonarde Keeler]]'s [[polygraph]] (lie detector) system, which has been widely criticized as ineffective and [[pseudoscientific]] by legal experts and psychologists.<ref name="fas">{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/polygraph/ota/index.html |access-date=July 27, 2017 |title=Scientific Validity of Polygraph Testing: A Research Review and Evaluation—A Technical Memorandum |location= Washington, D. C. |publisher=U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment |year=1983 |via=[[Federation of American Scientists]]}} ([https://ota.fas.org/reports/8320.pdf PDF version])</ref><ref name=APA2004>{{cite journal |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/polygraph.html |access-date=July 27, 2017 |date=July 2004 |journal=Monitor on Psychology |title=The polygraph in doubt |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=35 |issue=7 |first=R. |last=Adelson}}</ref>

EDA meters are used in both therapist-patient<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Meta-analysis of comparative therapy outcome studies: A replication and refinement|last1 = Shapiro|first1 = David A.|date = November 1982|journal = Psychological Bulletin|doi = 10.1037/0033-2909.92.3.581|pmid = 7156259|last2 = Shapiro|first2 = Diana|issue = 3|publisher = American Psychological Association|pages = 581–604|volume=92}}</ref> and [[bio-feedback]] settings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nagai |first1=Yoko |last2=Goldstein |first2=Laura H. |author-link2=Laura H. Goldstein |last3=Fenwick |first3=Peter B.C. |last4=Trimblea |first4=Michael R. |date=April 2004 |title=Clinical efficacy of galvanic skin response biofeedback training in reducing seizures in adult epilepsy: a preliminary randomized controlled study |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior |publisher=Elsevier |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=216–223 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.12.003 |pmid=15123023 |s2cid=23077324 |quote=Biofeedback training significantly reduced seizure frequency in the active biofeedback group}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://holisticonline.com/Biofeedback-GSH.htm|title = Biofeedback, Galvanic skin response (GSH) or Electrodermal Response, Types of Biofeedback Machines or Biofeedback Techniques|date = January 1, 2004|access-date = April 8, 2015|website = Holisticonline.com|publisher = ICBS, Inc.}}</ref> EDA is one of the factors recorded by [[polygraphs]], and EDA meters are often used in [[human studies]] to gauge [[psychological]] responses.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Caprara|first1=H. John|last2=Eleazer|first2=Paul D.|last3=Barfield|first3=Robert D.|last4=Chavers|first4=Scott|title=Objective Measurement of Patient's Dental Anxiety by Galvanic Skin Reaction|journal=Journal of Endodontics|date=December 16, 2005|volume=29|issue=8|pages=493–496|doi=10.1097/00004770-200308000-00001|pmid=12929693|url=http://www.jendodon.com/article/S0099-2399(05)60391-3/abstract|access-date=April 9, 2015|publisher=Elsevier Inc.|quote=A statistically significant correlation was found between skin conductance and dental anxiety in all cases.|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Biochemical and Galvanic Skin Responses to Music Stimuli by College Students in Biology and Music|last1 = Vanderark|first1 = Sherman D.|date = 1992|journal = Perceptual and Motor Skills|doi = 10.2466/pms.1992.74.3c.1079|pmid = 1501973|last2 = Ely|first2 = Daniel|publisher = Ammons Scientific|pages = 1079–1090|volume = 74|issue = 3_suppl|s2cid = 23923608}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Galvanic skin response to Negro and white experimenters|last1 = Rankin|first1 = Robert E.|date = July 1955|journal = The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology|publisher = American Psychological Association|last2 = Campbell, Donald T.|first2 = Donald T.|volume = 51|pages = 30–33|issue = 1|doi=10.1037/h0041539|pmid = 13242282}}</ref>

== Description ==

[[File:Scientology e meter blue annotated.jpg|thumb|Parts of an e-meter]]
Most prominent on the face of the e-meter is a display with a needle pointer. There are several dials and knobs, and modern e-meters have several LCD displays. All models have knobs for turning the device on, testing it, setting the sensitivity, and boosting the device. The primary control for the auditor is the tone arm (a rotating lever) which is held throughout auditing and operated by one hand while the auditor writes with their other hand. As the needle on the display moves off the right or left of the dial, the tone arm is used to bring the needle back on the dial. During an auditing session, the auditor writes down questions he has asked the preclear, the preclear's answers, and activity of the e-meter such as needle movements and tone arm settings{{r|lewis-ch9}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mark Super VII Owner's manual |publisher=[[Golden Era Productions]] |year=1990 |author=[[L. Ron Hubbard Library]]}}</ref>

{{Blockquote |text=There are ten main "needle actions" that an auditor is trained to spot, including a "fall," a smooth needle motion to the right; a "rise," a similar motion to the left; and a "free needle," or more commonly called a "{{Glossary link|glossary=Glossary of Scientology|floating needle}}," which is "a rhythmic sweep of the dial at a slow, even pace... back and forth." |author=Harley and Kieffer {{r|lewis-ch9|p=197}} }}

=== Electronics ===

One of E-meter's primary components is a [[Wheatstone bridge]], an electrical circuit configuration invented in 1833<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Genesis of the Wheatstone Bridge |url=https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/7806626/mod_resource/content/1/The%20genesis%20of%20Wheatstone%20bridge.pdf |first=Stig |last=Ekelöf |journal=Engineering Science and Education Journal |volume=10 |issue=1 |date=February 2001 |pages=37–40|doi=10.1049/esej:20010106 |doi-broken-date=December 7, 2024 }}  Author discusses [[Samuel Hunter Christie|Christie's]] and [[Charles Wheatstone|Wheatstone]]'s contributions, and why the bridge carries Wheatstone's name.</ref> that enables the detection of very small differences between two [[electrical impedance]]s (in this case, [[electrical resistance|resistances]]). The E-meter is constructed so that one resistance is the subject's body and the other is a [[rheostat]] controlled by the operator. A small voltage from the battery is applied to electrodes held in the subject's hands. As the electrical properties (electrodermal activity) of the subject's body change during the counseling,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |title=Understanding the E-Meter |publisher=[[Bridge Publications (Scientology)|Bridge Publications]] |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-88404-078-1}}</ref>{{r|brown}} the resulting changes in the small electric current are displayed in needle movements on a large analog panel meter. The dial face is without numbers because the absolute resistance in [[ohm]]s is relatively unimportant, while the operator watches primarily for characteristic needle motions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://e-meter-star.com/books.files/Understanding_the_E_Meter.pdf#page=58 |title=Understanding the E-Meter |date=1982 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=The Starlight Meter |last=Hubbard |first=Lafayette}}</ref>{{r|howtheemeterworks}} The [[voltage]] applied to the electrodes is less than 1.5&nbsp;V, and the [[electric current]] through the subject's body is less than a half a [[milliampere]].{{r|howtheemeterworks}}

In the Scientology E-meter, the large control, known as the "tone arm", adjusts the [[Biasing|meter bias]], while a smaller one controls the [[Gain (electronics)|gain]]. The operator manipulates the tone arm to keep the needle near the center of the dial so its motion is easily observed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hubbard|first1=Lafayette |title=The Book of E-meter Drills |page=11 |url=http://e-meter-star.com/books.files/E-meter_drills.pdf#page=11 |access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref> A simple E-meter powered by direct current, such as that used by the Scientologists and the like, displays several kinds of electrodermal activity (EDA) on the one dial without distinction, including changes in [[electric resistance|resistance]] and [[bioelectric]] potential. Researchers in [[psychophysiology]] are also exploring [[admittance]] and [[Electrical impedance|impedance]] aspects of EDA that can be observed only with [[alternating current]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Electrodermal Activity|last=Boucsein |first=Wolfram |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012 |isbn=9781461411260 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6N6rnOEZEEoC&pg=PA2}}</ref>

The E-Meter, measuring variations in electrodermal activity (which can be highly responsive to emotion<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal|last1=Critchley|first1=Hugo D.|title=Book Review: Electrodermal Responses: What Happens in the Brain|journal=Neuroscientist|date=April 2002|volume=8|issue=2|pages=132–142|doi=10.1177/107385840200800209|pmid=11954558|s2cid=146232135}}</ref>), functions on the same physiological data sources as one of the parts of the [[polygraph]], or "[[lie detector]]". According to Scientology doctrine, the resistance corresponds to the "mental mass and energy" of the subject's mind, which are claimed to change when the subject thinks of particular mental images ([[engram (Dianetics)|engrams]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scientology.org/what-is-scientology/the-practice-of-scientology/the-e-meter.html |title=Official Scientology page on the E-meter |publisher=Scientology.org |access-date=June 3, 2012}}</ref> One account tells about Hubbard using the E-meter to determine whether or not fruits can experience pain, as in his 1968 assertion that tomatoes "scream when sliced".<ref name="tomatoes">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.life.com/image/76796742/in-gallery/25371 |title=30 Dumb Inventions |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |date=January 1, 1968 |access-date=October 28, 2009 |archive-date=October 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031093818/http://www.life.com/image/76796742/in-gallery/25371 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="tomatoes2">{{cite web |url=http://tonyortega.org/2013/02/02/scientology-mythbusting-with-jon-atack-the-tomato-photo/ |title=Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: The Tomato Photo! |publisher=tonyortega.org |date=February 2, 2013 |access-date=February 10, 2013}}</ref>

The traditional theory of EDA holds that skin resistance varies with the state of [[sweat glands]] in the skin. Sweating is controlled by the [[sympathetic nervous system]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Martini |first1=Frederic |last2=Bartholomew |first2=Edwin |title=Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology |publisher=[[Benjamin Cummings]] |location=San Francisco, CA |year=2001 |page=263 |isbn=978-0-13-061567-1}}</ref> Because sweat contains [[electrolyte]]s (salt, etc.), conductivity is increased when the sweat glands are activated. But some advocates argue that the meter responds more quickly than would be possible by the exudation and drying of sweat.<ref>[[Skin conductance#Possible problems|Article ''Skin conductance'', main page]]: "Lastly, galvanic skin responses are delayed 1–3&nbsp;seconds."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hubbard |first1=Lafayette |title=The Book of E-meter Drills |page=27 |url=http://e-meter-star.com/books.files/E-meter_drills.pdf#page=27 |access-date=April 8, 2015 |quote=An Instant Read. An instant read is defined as that reaction of the needle which occurs at the precise end of any major thought voiced by the auditor. (quoting HCO B May 25, 1962)}}</ref> They propose an additional mechanism termed the "Tarchanoff Response", through which the [[cerebral cortex]] of the brain affects the current directly. This phenomenon is not completely understood, and further research needs to be performed.{{r|brown}}<ref name="Boucsein-7">{{cite book|last1=Boucsein|first1=Wolfram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6N6rnOEZEEoC&pg=PR4|title=Electrodermal Activity|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781461411260|page=7|access-date=April 10, 2015}}</ref>

== Legal issues ==

===United States===
{{Main|History of Dianetics and Scientology}}
The medical establishment had been watching Hubbard's enterprises since 1951, when the [[New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs|New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners]] [[History of Dianetics and Scientology|prosecuted the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation]] ([[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]) for practicing medicine without a license.<ref>''Bulletin of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation'', Elizabeth, New Jersey. January 1951</ref> In 1958, the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) seized and destroyed 21,000 [[Dianazene]] tablets from Hubbard's [[Distribution Center Inc.]], charging that they were falsely labeled as a treatment for radiation sickness.<ref name="Blue Sky">{{cite book | last = Atack | first = Jon | author-link = Jon Atack | year = 1990 | title = A Piece of Blue Sky | publisher = Carol Publishing Group | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-8184-0499-3 | url = https://archive.org/details/pieceofblueskysc00atac }}</ref><ref>Wallis, Roy. ''Sectarianism: Analyses of Religious and Non-Religious Sects'', Page 92, 1975, {{ISBN|0-470-91910-8}}</ref><ref name="barefaced">{{cite book|author=Miller, Russell|author-link=Russell Miller|title=Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard|publisher=Henry Holt & Co|location=New York|edition=First American|year=1987|isbn=978-0-8050-0654-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0/page/227 227–228]|url=https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0/page/227}}</ref>

On January 4, 1963, in service of an FDA complaint, more than 100 [[United States Marshals Service|US marshals]] and deputized [[longshoremen]] with drawn guns<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title = Scientology|last = Lewis|first = James R.|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2009|isbn = 9780199887118|location = Oxford, United Kingdom|pages = Introduction: 5}}</ref> raided the [[Founding Church of Scientology]] in Washington, D.C., and confiscated more than three tons of property,{{r|Garrison|page=135}} including 5,000 books, 2,900 booklets, and several hundred E-meters.<ref name="skelley" />{{RP|1151}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Battle Mounts – Those Who Oppose Scientology|url=http://opposing.scientology.org/31-battl.htm|website=Those Who Oppose Scientology|publisher=Church of Scientology International|access-date=April 10, 2015}}</ref> The FDA accused the Church of making false medical claims that the E-meters could treat physical and [[mental illness]]es. The FDA also charged that the meters did not bear adequate directions for treating the conditions for which they were recommended.<ref>{{cite book | author=Christopher Riche Evans | title=Cults of Unreason | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | year=1974 | isbn=978-0-374-13324-5| title-link=Cults of Unreason }} Chapter 6.</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Russell Miller | title=Bare-Faced Messiah: The true story of L. Ron Hubbard | chapter = 15. Visits To Heaven | publisher=[[Key Porter Books]] | year=1987 | isbn=978-1-55013-027-0}}</ref>

The Church claimed that they had not written any publication that the E-meter could or would heal anything{{r|Garrison|page=136}} and sued to get the property back. Years of litigation ensued. In the first trial beginning on April 3, 1967, the jury found that the Church misrepresented the E-meter, and the judge ordered the confiscated materials destroyed.{{r|Garrison|page=136}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|url = http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=18|title = Other People's Faiths: The Scientology Litigation and the Justiciability of Religious Fraud|last = Heins|first = Marjorie|date = 1982|journal = Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly|access-date = April 9, 2015|page = 170|volume = 9|issue = 1|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025107/http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=18|archive-date = September 24, 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref> However, in 1969 the [[US Court of Appeals]] for the District of Columbia reversed the verdict; the Church, it said, had made substantial showing that Scientology is a religion and the government had done nothing to rebut the claim.<ref name=":2" /> The US Court of Appeals wrote: {{blockquote |[The Founding Church has] made no attempt to contradict the expert testimony introduced by the Government. They have conceded that the E-meter is of no use in the diagnosis or treatment of disease as such, and have argued that it was never put forward as having such use. Auditing or processing, in their view, treats the spirit of man, not his body, though through the healing of the spirit the body can be affected. They have culled from their literature numerous statements disclaiming any intent to treat disease and recommending that Scientology practitioners send those under their care to doctors when organic defects may be found. They have introduced through testimony a document which they assert all those who undergo auditing or processing must sign which states that Scientology is "a spiritual and religious guide intended to make persons more aware of themselves as spiritual beings, and not treating or diagnosing human ailments of body or mind, and not engaged in the teaching of medical arts or sciences * * *."<br />Finally, with respect to their claim to be a religion and hence within the protection of the First Amendment, they have shown that the Founding Church of Scientology is incorporated as a church in the District of Columbia, and that its ministers are qualified to perform marriages and burials. They have introduced their Creed into evidence. The Government has made no claim that the Founding Church is not a ''bona fide'' religion, that auditing is not part of the exercise of that religion, or that the theory of auditing is not a doctrine of that religion.<ref name="skelley">{{cite web|last1 = Wright|first1 = Skelley|title = Opinion|url = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18407779340802616532|publisher = United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia|access-date = 10 April 2015|location = Washington, D.C.|date = February 5, 1969|page = 1154}}</ref>}}

Having found that Scientology was a religion, the Court wrote that the government was forbidden by the [[First Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] to rule on the truth or falsity of the Church's doctrines and interfere with its practices, provided the claims are not manifestly insincere and the practices are reasonably harmless.<ref name="skelley"/> The Court ordered a new trial with the mandate that the trial court could not forbid auditing, use of the E-meter, or purveyance of the literature within a religious context.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=19|title = "Other People's Faiths": The Scientology Litigation and the Justiciability of Religious Fraud|last = Heins|first = Marjorie|date = 1982|journal = Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly|access-date = April 9, 2015|volume = 9|issue = 1|page = 171|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025107/http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=19|archive-date = September 24, 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Malko|first1=George|title=Scientology: The Now Religion|date=1970|publisher=Dell/Delacorte Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1112963735|pages=Chapter 4|url=http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/now/4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123045806/http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/now/4.htm |archive-date=November 23, 2008 |quote=the U.S. Court of Appeals&nbsp;... reversed the decision of the federal jury and stated that until the government can offer proof that Scientology is not a religion, the E-Meters and the literature seized are protected by our rights of freedom of worship.}}</ref> The FDA appealed the decision, but in 1969, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] declined to review the case, commenting only that "Scientology meets the ''prima facie'' test of religion".<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=23|title = Other People's Faiths: The Scientology Litigation and the Justiciability of Religious Fraud|last = Heins|first = Marjorie|date = 1982|journal = Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly|access-date = April 9, 2015|page = 175, fn. 116|volume = 9|issue = 1|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025107/http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V9/I1/Heins.pdf#PAGE=23|archive-date = September 24, 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref> In his 1973 judgment, District Court Judge [[Gerhard Gesell]] ruled that:{{blockquote |Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most, illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false.{{r|robbers}} }}Unable to do more under the mandate from the Court of Appeals, Judge Gesell ordered all the property to be returned to the Church, and thereafter, the E-meter may be used only in "''bona fide'' religious counseling". All meters and referring literature must include a label disclaiming any medical benefits:

{{blockquote|The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone.<ref name="scribd.com"/>}}

The church adopted a modified version of that statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-meter. The current statement reads:

{{blockquote|The Hubbard Electrometer is a religious artifact. By itself, this meter does nothing. It is for religious use by students and Ministers of the church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling only.<ref>{{cite journal |title=New Religious Movements, Technology, and Science: The Conceptualization of the E-meter in Scientology Teachings |journal=Zygon |year=2016 |last=Bigliardi |first=Stefano |volume=51 |issue=3 |page=668 |doi=10.1111/zygo.12281 |doi-access=free }}</ref>}}

Judge Gesell also ordered the Church to pay all the government's legal fees and warehousing costs for the confiscated property for the nine years of litigation. He also required the church to pay the salaries and travel expenses of FDA agents who might, from time to time, inspect for compliance with the court's order.{{r|Garrison|page=143}} The raid was ruled illegal, but the government retained copies of the documents.<ref name=":4" />

===Sweden===
In 1979, a court forbade calling the E-meter "an invaluable aid to measuring man's mental state and changes in it" in an advertisement. The prohibition was upheld by the [[European Commission of Human Rights]] in case ''[[X. and Church of Scientology v. Sweden]]''.

===France===
In October 2009, a three-judge panel at the Correctional Court in Paris, convicted the church and six of its members of organized fraud.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/27/france.scientology.fraud/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn|title=French court convicts Church of Scientology of fraud|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=October 27, 2009|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref> The Court's decision followed a three-week trial, where two plaintiffs alleged they were defrauded by the organization. One plaintiff's complaint involved the use of an E-Meter by Scientologists with medical implications. This plaintiff claimed that, after being audited with the device, she was encouraged to pay tens of thousands of euros for vitamins, books, and courses to improve her condition. She argued that amounted to fraud. The Court agreed, and the ruling was upheld on appeal in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|last=AFP|title=Scientology's fraud conviction upheld in France|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10384877/Scientologys-fraud-conviction-upheld-in-France.html|access-date=March 29, 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> See {{section link|Scientology in France|Conviction for fraud}}.

===Australia===

{{See also|Scientology in Australia}}

In 1964, the government of [[Victoria, Australia]], held a Board of Inquiry into Scientology which returned its findings in a document colloquially known as the [[Anderson Report]]. Psychiatrist Ian Holland Martin, honorary federal secretary of the [[Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists|Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists]], gave evidence that the E-Meter "used for Scientology" was a "psycho-galvano-meter" and was "dangerous in unqualified hands".<ref name="CanTimesJun1964">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105764102 |title=Scientology Venus Trip 'a Delusion' |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=June 2, 1964 |access-date=August 13, 2013 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He said that if the E-meter "was suggested to possess mysterious powers" to someone who did not understand that it had "been thoroughly discredited as a lie detector" then "that person would be suggestible to ideas foisted on him by the operator".<ref name="CanTimesJun1964"/> The final report of the inquiry stated that the E-meter enabled Scientology

{{blockquote |
to assume, intensify and retain control over the minds and wills of preclears. Fears of its abilities keep them in constant subjection. Its use can be so manipulated by cunningly phrased questions that almost any desired result can be obtained, and it is used unscrupulously to dominate students and staff alike. All the evil features of scientology are intensified where the E-meter is involved. When used in conjunction with hypnotic techniques, its evil impact is greatly increased.

This simple electrical device is not, of course, the sole basis for the condemnation of scientology, but without the E-meter scientology would be partly disarmed.<ref>State of Victoria (1965). ''[https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/ar14.html Report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology]'' p. 96</ref>}}

In 1965, Victoria banned the use of the E-meter without a license, with Western Australia and South Australia following suit. In 1969, the High Court of Western Australia ruled the ban illegal. South Australia repealed its law in 1973, and Victoria repealed it in 1982. In 1983, the High Court of Australia ruled that Scientology was a religion and as such had the same rights and protections.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=James R.|title=Scientology|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|isbn=9780199887118|pages=Introduction: 5, 6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WEy-BgAAQBAJ&q=%22founding%20church%20of%20scientology%20v.%20united%20states%22&pg=PT36|access-date=April 14, 2015}}</ref>

==Scientology beliefs and theories==
Within the Church of Scientology, the early psychoanalysts are credited with first use of the E-meter.

{{blockquote|Bob Thomas, senior executive of the Church of Scientology in the United States, described the E-meter&nbsp;... "Some very early work on this was done by Jung, who used a list of words. I think he combined it with the psycho-galvanometer. By this word association, he was attempting to increase the effectiveness of the free association techniques, which he was not sure about."{{r|Garrison|pages=62-64}} }}

Hubbard credited Mathison with recreating the E-meter and bringing him the first model for use in Dianetics.<ref name=6207C19>{{cite book|last1=Hubbard|first1=L. Ron|title=Taped Lecture 6207C19 SHSBC-191: The E-Meter|date=July 19, 1962|publisher=Church of Scientology, St. Hill Organization|location=East Grinstead, England|url=http://www.matrixfiles.com/Scientology%20Materials/Tapes%20in%20order/6105a07%20Saint%20Hill%20Special%20Briefing%20Course%20Lectures/TXT/6207C19%20SHSBC-191%20The%20E-Meter.txt|access-date=June 10, 2015|ref=6207C19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122084024/http://www.matrixfiles.com/Scientology%20Materials/Tapes%20in%20order/6105a07%20Saint%20Hill%20Special%20Briefing%20Course%20Lectures/TXT/6207C19%20SHSBC-191%20The%20E-Meter.txt|archive-date=January 22, 2015}}</ref> Hubbard set out his [[theory]] of how the E-meter works in his book ''Understanding the E-Meter'':

{{blockquote|For the meter to be read, the tiny flow of electrical energy through the preclear (person) has to remain steady. When this tiny flow is changed the needle of the E-Meter moves. This will happen if the preclear pulls in or releases mental mass. This mental mass (condensed energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistance to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter.}}

Hubbard claimed that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as [[mass]] as commonly understood by lay persons:

{{blockquote|In Scientology it has been discovered that mental energy is simply a finer, higher level of physical energy. The test of this is conclusive in that a thetan "mocking up" (creating) mental image pictures and thrusting them into the body can increase the body mass and by casting them away again can decrease the body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on scales, has been added to, and subtracted from, a body by creating "mental energy". Energy is energy. Matter is condensed energy.}}

This text in ''Understanding the E-Meter'' is accompanied by three drawings. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "148".

Bob Thomas, senior executive of the church in the early 1970s, gave a prosaic description.

{{blockquote|The immediate goal of the E-meter is to enhance communication. In other words, just to take a parallel: if an analyst were allowing his patient to free-associate, and the patient were connected in some way with a galvanometer which showed the analyst what things the patient mentioned were emotionally charged and what things were not emotionally charged, a lot of time would be saved. So it's simply an assist for the practitioner to direct the individual to areas which he himself may not realize are troubled or charged with emotion or are repressed; and to better direct his attention into those areas&nbsp;...

The E-meter is a simple psycho-galvanometer. It's got some increased sensitivity built into it and the [[Myology|myological]] reactions that you sometimes get in the galvanometer have been damped out by the circuitry, so that the mental reactions, the reactions of the spirit, on the body are emphasized and can be read more clearly. But that's simply the design of the circuitry; it doesn't basically affect the kind of device. It registers what is called, commonly, the psychogalvanomic reflex, which is a reflex that is a poorly understood mechanism of the psyche. The body resistance seems to vary when the individual thinks of a painful or pain-associated or traumatic-associated concept, or word or idea.&nbsp;... Some very early work was done on this by Jung&nbsp;...{{r|Garrison|pages=62-64}} }}

==See also==
* [[Auditing (Scientology)]]
* [[Biofeedback]]
* [[Ohmmeter]]
* [[Thought identification]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|refs=

{{Efn|name=dewolfaffidavit |Corydon's account was said to be based on the memoirs of Hubbard's son, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., later known as [[Ronald DeWolf]], but in 1987 DeWolf [[Ronald DeWolf#Biography of L. Ron Hubbard|sued the publisher]] to prevent publication and swore an affidavit repudiating everything in the book. See [[:commons:File:Ron DeWolf May 1987.pdf|Affidavit submitted by DeWolf to a notary in Nevada]].}}

}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="brown">{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Barbara |title=Skin Talks – And It May Not Be Saying What You Want To |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/22744127/ |access-date=April 8, 2015 |agency=Idaho State Journal |publisher=Field Enterprises, Inc. |date=November 9, 1977 |location=Pocatello, Idaho |page=32 |quote=Carl Jung, possibly the most creative psychologist who ever lived, experimented with skin talk in 1900. Using a primitive instrument to record changes in skin electrical activity, he conducted psychological interviews with patients and found that the skin responded to hidden emotions. It is said he was so astounded by this phenomenon that he exclaimed, 'Aha, a looking glass into the unconscious!'}}</ref>

<ref name="howtheemeterworks">{{cite web |title=How the E-Meter works |url=http://www.scientology.org/what-is-scientology/the-practice-of-scientology/how-the-e-meter-works.html |publisher=Church of Scientology International}}</ref>

<ref name="kotze">{{Cite report |first=G.P.C. |last=Kotzé |title=Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Scientology for 1972 |url=https://archive.org/details/southafricascientologyreport1972full/ |publisher=Republic of South Africa |id=RP 55/1973 (The Kotzé Report) |date=9 June 1972}}</ref>

<ref name="lewis-ch9">{{cite book |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |year=2009 |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=The Development and Reality of Auditing |pages=183–206 |first1=Gail M. |last1=Harley |first2=John |last2=Kieffer |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0010}}</ref>

<ref name="wheatstone">{{Cite book |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |title=The Book Introducing the E-Meter |page=1 |publisher=[[Church of Scientology#Pubs org|Publications Organization World Wide]] |year=1968}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|E-meters}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060908224302/http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/pg15.htm ''Scientology Today: What is the E-Meter and how does it work?''], official [[Church of Scientology]] description
* [http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Meter/ ''Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter''], by [[David S. Touretzky]]
* {{US Patent|6011992|E-Meter US Patent}}, filed by the [[Church of Spiritual Technology]] on May 9, 1996, and published January 4, 2000
* [https://www.academia.edu/21303695/_New_Religious_Movements_Technology_and_Science_The_Conceptualization_of_the_E-Meter_in_Scientology_Teachings_Zygon_Journal_of_Religion_and_Science_51_3_661-683_2016_ "New Religious Movements, Technology, and Science: The Conceptualization of the E-Meter in Scientology Teachings" Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51 (3):661-683 (2016)], a thorough historical and critical study by scholar Stefano Bigliardi.

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[[Category:1951 introductions]]
[[Category:Measuring instruments]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
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