An inexpensive,portable, printing event recorder for behavior studies

An inexpensive, field-portable event recorder for monitoring insect or other animal behavior is described. The recorder consists of a 16-key event code keyboard and a 99.99-min timer interfaced to a low-cost printing calculator. The event code number and the elapsed time (.01-min resolution) from the start of an observation period are printed whenever an event key is pressed. The recorder is operable over a temperature range of 0°C to 50°C, with a timing error of less than ±.05% of the 99.99-min full-scale timing range. Periods longer than 99.99 min can be monitored, provided the return to zero of the timer is noted and taken into consideration.     

A high-speed computer-coinpatible event recorder

Design considerations, construction information, and programming considerations of a high-speed event recorder are presented. The device records discrete events on magnetic tape for later processing by a large computer. Although the design information is general, the instrument has 120 event channels, a time resolution of up to 100 microsec, and can record 60 or more events per second.     

Creative problem solving and communication behavior in small groups

This study investigated differences between communication behaviors of small groups trained in creative problem solving and groups not trained in creative problem solving. Communication behaviors investigated were: (a) amount of participation; (b) verbal indications of criticism; (c) verbal indications of support; (d) verbal indications of humor; and (e) nonverbal indications of humor. Groups were also evaluated on the quantity of ideas generated. Results indicated that groups trained in creative problem solving participated more, criticized ideas less, supported ideas more, exhibited more verbal and nonverbal indications of humor, and produced significantly more ideas than untrained groups.     

Describing behavior with ratios of count and time

Describing behavior with ratios of count and time is a popular measurement tactic in the field of behavior analysis. The paper examines some count and time ratios in order to determine what about behavior each describes and why one ratio may sometimes be more useful than another. In addition, the paper briefly considers some terminological issues, derived quantities, dimensional analysis, some advantages and disadvantages of ratios, and selection of useful quantities for measurement.     

P-SPACE: A program for simulating spatial behavior in small groups

P-SPACE is a computer program that simulates spatial behavior in a small group of individuals. The program describes how interpersonal distances change through time as a result of changes in microlevel features, such as the minimization of local dissatisfaction. Agents are located in a two-dimensional lattice and can move some discrete space units at each discrete time unit within their neighborhood. A nonsymmetrical matrix of ideal distances between agents must be specified. Agents move in order to minimize their dissatisfaction, defined as a function of the discrepancy between possible future distances and ideal distances between agents. At each iteration, agents will move to those cells in their neighborhoods for which the function is minimized. Depending on the specific values in the ideal-distance matrix, different kinds of social dynamics can be simulated.     

Systematic observation methods in the study of small groups

A comparison was made between the Bales and the Carter-Haythorn-Meirowitz-Lanzetta methods of systematic observation. The comparison was limited to the categorizing of verbal behaviour. It was found that there are several deficiencies in the latter method with respect to the classes used, and that satisfactory observer reliability could not be obtained. By using the Bales method, on the other hand, fairly high total observer reliabilities were achieved, and even the category reliabilities in various classes turned out to be satisfactory, provided the category frequencies were large enough.