Poligraph tests test resistance or conductance?

[RabbitWho]

Homework Statement

Question: "What does a polygraph test measure; skin resistance or conductance?"

To me this is two sides of the same coin and it seems it must be measuring both.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I thought that the person is acting as a resistor so I wrote down resistance, but the answer is conductance. I could just memorise the answer but I would like to understand why.

I'm a psychology student so please speak slowly and without assuming any basic knowledge.

 

[gneill]

You are correct, it is technically two sides of the same coin. Resistance and conductance are related as R = 1/G, where R is resistance (measured in units of Ohms) and G is conductance measured in units of Siemens, and 1 Siemen is 1/(1 Ohm).

In fields outside of pure physics or electronics, there is sometimes a tendency to make the "correct" answer one that is learned by wrote from the textbook.