Lip Key
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
The lip key is a physiological instrument used to automatically close or open an electric circuit with the lips during speech. It was typically employed in association-time studies to measure reaction times using chronoscopes.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
LIP KEY serves for the automatic closing or opening of an electric current with the lips during the pronunciation of a word. It is usually used in the study of association time. When the subject receives a stimulus and responds to it with a word, the spring-loaded plates of the key are pushed apart under the action of the lips and (depending on which terminals are used) close or open the current in a recording apparatus (for example, the Hipp or Schirz chronoscope). When moving on to another subject, the tips are replaced with new ones or washed (for example, in alcohol).
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Cite this page
“Lip Key.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/lip-key/