A computer-oriented system for high-speed recording of operant behavior

A method is described by which large quantities of data, generated at high and variable rates from a large number of test boxes, are recorded on a single eight-channel punched paper tape. The data, which include a record of the occurrence time of each event in 1/10-sec units, are in a compact form, suitable for conversion to standard Hollerith punched card codes and for decoding and summarizing by a large digital computer. Experience with the system has demonstrated a high degree of accuracy and reliability, and low operating cost.     

Behavioral engineering: postural control by a portable operant apparatus

Recent studies suggested a general behavioral engineering approach to behavioral disorders by portable operant treatment instruments. The approach was applied to the problem of poor posture, specifically rounding of the back or slouching. An apparatus was developed that provided a warning stimulus followed by an aversive tone for the duration of slouching. Slouching was thereby punished by onset of the tone, and non-slouching was reinforced by tone termination and postponement. Twenty-five adults wore the apparatus during their normal working day during alternate periods in which the aversive tone was connected and disconnected experimentally. A miniature time-meter recorded the duration of slouching. The results showed that slouching decreased for each subject during each period in which slouching produced the aversive tone. For two subjects, a second control procedure was applied in which slouching terminated the tone. The result was an increase of slouching, demonstrating that the postural changes were controlled by the scheduled relation between the aversive tone and the response, and not by other factors such as simple response feedback. The substantial changes in posture indicate that the present procedure may prove to be an effective treatment alternative and suggests the general value of the behavioral engineering approach.     

Measures of observer agreement when binomial data are collected in free operant situations

This paper examines a model and defines reasonable assumptions underlying different measures of observer agreement for categorical data collected in free operant situations. It is assumed that two or more observers classify operant behaviors of subjects into occurrences and nonoccurrences by recognition by validated response classes (categories) such that the rates of false positives and observer biases are acceptably low. Thus errors are mostly omissions, i.e., failing to observe events that occur. Four alternative cases are derived, together with formulas for calculating significance tests, variances, and standard errors, three of which do not depend on knowledge of the proportion of time points at which the event does not occur.We wish to acknowledge NICHD Grant HD-10570, The Neuropharmacology of Developmental Disorders, George Breese, Ph.D., and C. T. Gualtieri, M.D., Principal Investigators; NIEHS Grant ES-01104; USPHS Grant HD-03110; and MCH Project 916 to the Division for Disorders of Development and Learning.     

A simple,all-mechanical operant apparatus

An apparatus is described that utilizes the force exerted by a rat in turning a wheel to rotate reward cups into his presence after passing through a reservoir containing water or ground mash. The response-ratio requirement, force requirement, and amount of reward can be manipulated by simple adjustment or interchange of parts.     

A minicomputer system for recording the dynamic properties of individual operant responses

A PDP-12 is used to conduct operant experiments in which peak force, duration, time integral of force, and interresponse time may each serve as the criterion response property for reinforcement, and all four properties are simultaneously recorded as dependent variables. Calibration, acquisition and control, and data analysis programs are described.     

A portable four-channel cassette recording system for short-term electroencephalogram in the field

A portable four-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) cassette recording system has been designed which offers good performance, is simple to construct, and moderate in cost. The recorder is compatible with a commercially available, portable, battery-operated power source, and is therefore usable in the field where line power is unavailable. The system incorporates a small, lightweight, portable, battery-powered oscilloscope which provides monitoring and playback capability. While a few experimental portable EEG recorders have been reported in recent years with more channel capacity or perhaps lighter weight, the engineering details of these units are rarely published and, in any event, would require a substantial effort for most electronics support shops to reproduce. The recording system described here, however, should be within the capability of most electronics support groups to assemble in a very short time and provide good performance.     

An apparatus for recording figural after-effects

A simple apparatus is described by which Figural After-effects may be recorded directly from the subject's adjustments of a test figure. Curves which have been recorded confirm the results of other workers obtained by more laborious methods.     

An apparatus for studying operant activity of captive coyotes

We describe a portable apparatus designed to examine the free-operant food preferences of captive coyotes in their home kennels. Because leverpressing for food access was the dependent variable, we measured food preference independently of food ingestion. Using successive approximation, we trained 8 out of 19 coyotes (42%) to use the apparatus. This percentage is similar to training rates for dogs. We used fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement to further test 4 of the trained coyotes. All 4 produced response curves similar to those of other species on similar schedules of reinforcement.     

A rapid automatic technique for generating operant key-press behavior in rats

Experimentally naive rats were trained to key press on a fixed-ratio 10 schedule of food reinforcement by a completely automatic procedure within a single, 1-hr session. Control procedures demonstrated that the resulting behavior was an operant, under control of the schedule of reinforcement and the specified reinforcing stimulus (food). A simple, combination food-tray operandum, also described, was used as the basis for the training technique.     

A method for recording verbal behavior in free-play settings

The present study attempted to test the reliability of a new method of recording verbal behavior in a free-play preschool setting. Six children, three normal and three speech impaired, served as subjects. Videotaped records of verbal behavior were scored by two experimentally naive observers. The results suggest that the system provides a means of obtaining reliable records of both normal and impaired speech, even when the subjects exhibit nonverbal behaviors (such as hyperactivity) that interfere with direct observation techniques.     

Response elimination in concurrent and single operant situations with pigeons

Two experiments compared the efficiency and durability of elimination of a free operant resulting from omission (OM) or extinction (EXT) when an alternative to the response undergoing elimination was available. Pigeons were pretrained on concurrent VI (Expt I) before response elimination, durability testing, and extinction testing. Maintenance of one operant by the adventitious reinforcement for not emitting a second operant subjected to OM was demonstrated. Response elimination effects were more durable after OM than EXT. Experiment II compared concurrent and single operant paradigms in response elimination with OM and EXT. Response elimination was more rapid and more durable in the concurrent situation than in the single operant situation, and OM conditions were more durable than EXT conditions.     

A bite manipulandum for the development of operant behavior in predacious fishes

An inexpensive bite manipulandum is described for use in operant conditioning studies with predacious fishes such as the largemouth bass. Compression of a rubber nipple by a fish bite is transduced by a mounted phonograph speaker. The use of the fish’s natural foods as rein-forcers in conjunction with this device makes it possible to obtain schedule-of-reinforcement data not previously obtainable with this species. Sample interval and ratio data are provided.