Tachistoscopic software for the Macintosh

The emulation of a tachistoscope with a Macintosh microcomputer and Pascal language is presented here. The software described is a complete program for the presentation of textual stimuli on the Macintosh screen and includes the recording of reaction times. The stimulus coordinates on the screen are user defined and variable from trial to trial for specific visual angles. The position of a fixation point on the screen and the distance between the subject and the plane of the screen, as well as the particular screen resolution, are taken into account in computing the visual angle.     

Tachistoscopic software for Macintosh computers

The requirements for accurate presentation of short-duration stimuli on, raster display monitors are summarized, and existing packages for instantiating such displays are evaluated. A new soft-ware package that provides tachistoscopic functions for Macintosh computers is described. This software, called MacTach, performs video-buffer switching, allowing tachistoscopic presentation of large or multibit depth images that is not available with alternative methods. Compatibility routines and verification procedures allow compatibility with all Macintosh computers. Applications for animation, motion, and dichoptic presentations are discussed.     

Applications for tracking reading behavior on the Macintosh

Two applications for the Macintosh that permit students to read the sentences in a text in any order also provide a record of reading behavior from which processing time and reading strategies can be determined. The applications differ: READIT! presents the sentences one at a time, whereas SELECT THE TEXT presents the entire passage with a mask, which resembles the moving window technique. Unique to these applications is that students may return to sentences to reread them any number of times and in any order. Because these applications allow students to reexamine parts of the text, the reading that they enable is more similar to normal reading than has been the case with previous methodologies for tracking student reading behavior. The applications are described, and a summary of the major results of the work in which we have used the applications is provided.     

A voice-activated key for the Apple Macintosh computer

An interface circuit to connect a microphone to an Apple Macintosh computer is described. The Apple Macintosh mouse port is used as the input port, and the microphone activation simulates a mouse press.     

Student evaluation of sex education programs advocating abstinence.

This research examined the attitudes of students who were enrolled in three different sex education programs that emphasize abstinence. Data were examined to determine whether secondary school students responded positively to the programs. The programs examined were Values and Choices, Teen Aid, and Sex Respect. Results of the study indicated that all three programs were rated positively, with female, younger (junior high school age), and virgin-naive students rating the programs more highly.     

Simple algorithms for creating random-element stereograms on the Macintosh

Traditionally, the creation of random-element stereograms is a computation-intensive process. However, by taking advantage of routines built into the Macintosh operating system, multiple-depth stereogram anaglyphs can be easily created from any black-and-white or grayscale image. Any complex shape can be selected from the pattern and offset in one eye’s view relative to the other’s to create the illusion of depth, without the need to calculate offsets on an element-by-element basis.     

Macintosh statistical packages

Fifteen statistical packages for the Apple Macintosh computer are reviewed, and their features are listed and compared. Many do not follow the Macintosh user interface and are likely to be confusing to novices. Accuracy tests are reported for several programs.     

Toolbox-based routines for Macintosh timing and display

Pascal routines are described for several real-time operations on Macintosh computers. Methods are presented for millisecond timing and for high-speed transfer of arbitrary bit-image displays to the screen. All routines are based on Toolbox procedures available on virtually all Macintosh computers.     

A review of scientific visualization software for the Macintosh computer

Many programs are available for the Macintosh that provide advanced visualization tools. Some of the tools are individual applications, and some are part of mathematical packages. This paper reviews the capabilities, functionality, and ease of use of visualization tools within six software packages: Mathematica, Spyglass Transform/View, Spyglass Dicer, JMP, MacSpin, and SYSTAT.     

Real-time color-frame animation for visual psychophysics on the Macintosh computer

Psychophysical experiments involving moving stimuli require the rapid presentation of animated sequences of images. Although the Macintosh computer is widely used as a color graphics computer in research laboratories, its animation capabilities are generally ignored because of the speed limitations of drawing to the screen. New off-screen color graphics structures help to avoid the speed limitations so that real-time color or gray-scale visual motion stimuli may be generated. Precomputed animation frames are stored in off-screen memory and then rapidly transferred to the screen sequentially. The off-screen graphics structures may also be saved to disk in “Picture” form as “resources” for later retrieval and playback, allowing the experimenter to build in advance a collection of moving stimuli to use in future experiments. Code examples in the C programming language are provided, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of Macin-tosh color-frame animation for psychophysical experimentation are discussed.