VIDEOLOGGER: A computerized multichannel event recorder for analyzing videotapes

A microcomputer-assisted system that permits multiple events to be coded from videotape to a common time base is described. The system allows an operator, by pressing a button, to record the onset and offset times of any number of events. It requires a video recorder, an Apple II microcomputer, a John Bell 6522 timing card, and a pair of switches. The software package consists of five programs: one to make timing signals on the videotape, one to record the onset time and duration of the operator’s buttonpresses, one to read and print the coding data from disk, one to operate the timer, and one to process the compiled code used in the software package. All necessary wiring diagrams are shown. Software is available gratis from the authors on request.     

Object-oriented millisecond timers for the PC

Object-oriented programming provides a useful structure for designing reusable code. Accurate millisecond timing is essential for many areas of research. With this in mind, this paper provides a Turbo Pascal unit containing an object-oriented millisecond timer. This approach allows for multiple timers to be running independently. The timers may also be set at different levels of temporal precision, such as 10⁻³ (milliseconds) or 10⁻⁵ sec. The object also is able to store the time of a flagged event for later examination without interrupting the ongoing timing operation.     

TIMEX: A simple IBM AT C language timer with extended resolution

The simple timing method of reading the IBM-BIOS tick counter is extended from 55-msec to 54-µsec resolution by reading the 8254 hardware counter. Subroutine timex( ) implements the timer in Borland Turbo C on an IBM AT and on a PC or XT if the 8253 timer chip is replaced with an 8254 chip. A more limited version operates on an unmodified PC or XT.     

Naloxone and cold-water swim analgesia: Parametric considerations and individual differences

The role of endogenous opioids in the mediation of stress-induced analgesia has been studied using the opiate antagonist naloxone to reduce or eliminate the response. While the analgesic responses following some stressors are reduced by naloxone, other stressors, like cold-water swims, are altered minimally. However, in the case of inescapable foot shock analgesia, the temporal, numerical, and spatial arrangement of the shocks are critical parameters in determining whether naloxone is capable of altering the analgesic state. In assessing parametric variations of naloxone antagonism of cold-water swim analgesia, five experiments were performed. The first experiment showed that naloxone antagonized the analgesic response following a 3.5-min swim in a 15°C bath, but not in baths of 8°C and 2°C. The second experiment demonstrated dose-dependent antagonism of analgesia induced by 2°C swims for 2.5 and 3.5 min; shorter durations failed to increase thresholds. The third experiment indicated that naloxone decreased 2°C, 3.5-min swim analgesia when the pain test occurred 30 min after stress; longer intervals failed to produce analgesia. The fourth experiment showed that the temporal relationship between injections and swims had little bearing on resultant effects. Finally, since it appeared that naloxone decreased analgesia induced by the 2°C, 3.5-min swim in some animals, but not others, the fifth experiment found that the degree of naloxone antagonism was correlated with the magnitude of the analgesic response induced in individual animals. These results are discussed in terms of opioid and nonopioid mechanisms subserving pain inhibition.     

Apparatus accurate delays for auditory feedback experiments

This note describes a way of modifying a tape recorder for producing accurately controllable delays for experiments with delayed auditory feedback. Any value of delay from 80 millisec. to 1.2 sec. can be obtained to the nearest millisec., and the range could be extended by some minor changes. The delay is continuously monitored on a digital electronic timer.     

Effects of temperature and prior residence on territorial aggression in the convict cichlid Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum

Aggression in the convict cichlid Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum was measured under two different environmental parameters after introduction of a conspecific intruder. Measurements were made after 24-hr and 48-hr teritorial residence times at both 26°C and 30°C. Eight fish established territories in individual tanks each containing one terra cotta pot. Intruders contained in a glass cylinder were introduced into the territories. An opaque divider separating the resident from the intruder was removed after a 15-min acclimation period. At 26°C, we observed a significant difference in the mean number of bites of the cichlids of 24-hr and 48-hr residency durations, whereas, at 30°C, such a difference did not exist. Statistical analysis showed that cichlids exhibited more aggression at 30°C than at 26°C. Increased aggression levels at the higher temperature may be related to the fact that cichlids establish territories and spawn at about 30°C.     

A simple procedure for accurately manipulating face-voice synchrony when dubbing speech onto videotape

A system is described involving an audio-video tape recorder, a control device, and a delay timer that dubs speech sounds onto prerecorded lip movements on videotape. Accuracy of synchrony or measured asynchrony between the sound and lip movements is a few milliseconds.     

A device for recording automatic audio tape recording

Adaptation of a commercially available timer for use as a means of operating an audio tape recorder several times during the day is described. Data on a mother's rates of commanding her children were collected via both physically present observer and recorder methods in order to compare the usefulness of the recordings with direct observation. There was a high positive relationship between observer-recorder command rates, with the observer rates being consistently higher, when data were collected via both methods simultaneously as well as at different points in time.     

Time-interval acquisition on a 6502-based microcomputer

A versatile machine language subroutine and accompanying interface circuitry enable a 6502-based computer to collect time intervals between data events that can be represented by voltage transients. Intervals within the range of 150 microsec to 13.98 min can be collected with a resolution of ±25 microsec. Electrical interface circuitry includes signal conditioning and optical isolation and also allows user-specification of threshold levels on the data line. The machine language software timing routine and sequential interval handler include a 24-bit interval timer, a 16-bit interval counter, user-specified number and length of acquisition periods, and an out-of-memory tester. Although presented for implementation on the Apple II series of microcomputers, the transportability of the routine to other 6502-based machines is addressed.     

The time of our lives: life span development of timing and event tracking

Life span developmental profiles were constructed for 305 participants (ages 4-95) for a battery of paced and unpaced perceptual-motor timing tasks that included synchronize-continue tapping at a wide range of target event rates. Two life span hypotheses, derived from an entrainment theory of timing and event tracking, were tested. A preferred period hypothesis predicted a monotonic slowing of a preferred rate (tempo) of event tracking across the life span. An entrainment region hypothesis predicted a quadratic profile in the range of event rates that produced effective timing across the life span; specifically, age-specific entrainment regions should be narrower in childhood and late adulthood than in midlife. Findings across tasks provide converging support for both hypotheses. Implications of these findings are discussed for understanding critical periods in development and age-related slowing of event timing.     

Acceptable timing error at ball-bat impact for different pitches and its implications for baseball skills

In baseball hitting, batters need high precision timing control to hit the ball with bat’s sweet spot. Knowing the acceptable range of timing error for hitting the ball in the aimed direction for various pitch types is helpful to understand whether the cause of the batter's mis-hit is a spatial or temporal error and highlight the motor skills required by the batter. The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptable timing error in different baseball pitches and the impact characteristics of mis-hits. Twenty-six high school baseball players hit a ball launched from a pitching machine with three types of pitches: fastballs, curveballs, and slowballs. We recorded the three-dimensional behavior of the ball, bat, and human body (pelvis) using an optical motion capture system. We then defined the optimal impact location based on timing accuracy, and determined the acceptable range of timing error by the interactive relationship between the horizontal orientation of the bat’s long axis at the time of ball impact and the horizontal direction of the batted ball. The ±30° width in the horizontal direction of the batted ball was set as the precondition for the tolerance of timing. The acceptable timing error was ±7.9 ms for fastballs, ±10.7 ms for curveballs, and ±10.7 ms for slowballs, and the optimal timing for outside pitches was approximately 10 ms later than that for inside pitches. The timing error was also explained 38.1% by variation in the impact location along the long axis of the bat (R² = 0.381, P < 0.001) and was minimized at a position close to the bat’s sweet spot. These results suggest that the optimal impact location and acceptable range of timing error depend on the pitching course and speed and that timing accuracy is essential to achieve the spatial accuracy required to hit the ball at the bat’s sweet spot.     

Tachistoscopic presentation and millisecond timing on the IBM PC/XT/AT and PS/2: A Turbo Pascal unit to provide general-purpose routines for CGA,Hercules, EGA,and VGA monitors

A review of the literature on adopting microcomputers for use in tachistoscopic research paradigms illustrates the need for a comprehensive package to effectively deal with the wide variety of video displays and microcomputers used in experimental settings. In addition, because of the large number of possible configurations created when video displays and computer systems are combined, there is a need to be able to efficiently drive any such combination without rewriting program code. A Turbo Pascal unit is presented to provide standard tachistoseopic routines compatible with monochrome, CGA, Hercules, EGA, and VGA video technology. Procedures that synchronize both text and graphics mode stimuli with the vertical retrace pulse are given, as are routines to provide access to a timer with better than millisecond precision. Pascal code is described that will run on the IBM PC, XT, AT, or PS/2, as well as on any compatible machine. The versatility of the unit allows the experimenter to use generic video and timer commands that will automatically adapt at run time to the system that is being used, without further experimenter intervention.     

Gustatory,salivary, and oral thermal responses to solutions of sodium chloride at four temperatures

Using eight highly trained Ss, sensitivity to near threshold levels of NaCl was significantly greater at solution temperatures of 22° and 37°C than at 0° or 55°C. Perceived intensity increased linearly with concentration (0.04%–0.64% NaCl) at all four solution temperatures, with the two lower considered slightly more intense than the two higher temperatures. Biomodal distributions were obtained for hedonic judgments at all temperatures, with three Ss showing greater liking and five Ss showing greater disliking of increasing concentrations. Parotid salivary flow was inversely related to the taste sensitivity, i.e., significantly lower flow rates were obtained for the intermediate than for the hot or cold solutions, independent of salt content. When solution temperature was O°C, the minimum temperature of the oral cavity was 9°–20°C; when solution temperature was 55°C, the maximum temperature of the oral cavity was46°–49°C.     

Perception and production of brief durations: beat-based versus interval-based timing

Two experiments examined whether timing of short intervals is beat- or interval-based. In Experiment 1, subjects heard a sequence of standard tones followed by 2 test tones; they compared the interval between test tones to the interval between the standards. If optimal precision required beat-based timing, performance should be best in blocks in which the interval between standard and test reliably matched the standard interval. No such effect was observed. In Experiment 2, subjects heard 2 test tones and reproduced the intertone interval by producing 2 keypress responses. Entrainment to the beat was apparent: First-response latency clustered around the standard interval and was positively correlated with the produced interval. However, responses occurring on or near the beat showed no better temporal fidelity than off-beat responses. One plausible interpretation of these findings is that the brain always times brief intervals with an interval timer; however, this timer can be used in a cyclic fashion to trigger rhythmic responses.     

Mechanisms of perceptual timing: Beat-based or interval-based judgements?

Summary What is the nature of the human timing mechanism for perceptual judgements about short temporal intervals? One possibility is that initial periodic events, such as tones, establish internal beats which continue after the external events and serve as reference points for the perception of subsequent events. A second possibility is that the timer records the intervals produced by events. Later, the stored intervals can be reproduced or compared to other intervals. A study by Schulze (1978) provided evidence favoring beat-based timing. In contrast, our two experiments support an interval theory. The judgements of intervals between tones is not improved when the events are synchronized with internal beats established by the initial intervals. The conflict between the two sets of results may be resolved by the fact that an interval timer can recycle from one interval to the next, thus operating in a beat-like mode. However, a timer of this sort is just as accurate when comparing intervals that are off the beat.     

A variable-interval timer

A variable-interval timer with an audible tone output was designed to pace participants in human-factors studies. The timer can be operated in a continuous (recycling) mode or in a time-out (“beat-the-clock”) mode. In the continuous mode, the audible tone is emitted at the end of the preset interval and a new timing cycle is begun. In the time-out mode, the research participant must depress a switch both to avoid the tone and to begin a new cycle. The time interval can be digitally programmed for intervals from 1 sec to 2 h and 45 min. The operation of the timer is described, and construction details are provided.     

Intertask consistency of blood pressure responses to laboratory stressors may increase with prolonged exposure

In this study, one of the predictions of the reactivity hypothesis was investigated: the intertask consistency of blood pressure (BP) responses. Twelve young male subjects underwent cold-pressor (14°C) and digit-scan (counting even numbers) tests in randomized order. Cardiovascular parameters were recorded during a 2-min pretask baseline, a 10-min stressful exposure, and over a 5-min post-task baseline. The intertask correlations between the cold pressor and digit scan increased with prolonged exposure and were higher for almost all of the systolic BP measurements than for the diastolic measurements. After prolonged exposure, the hemodynamic mechanisms of BP elevations during the digit scan shifted from an increase in both cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance to solely an increase in peripheral vascular resistance. Increased peripheral vascular resistance was the consistent cause of the BP elevations with the cold pressor. Accordingly, the hemodynamic shift on the part of the digit scan seemed to heighten the intertask BP correlations. Some other factors influencing the intertask BP correlations are also discussed.     

Distance and Movement Time Effects on the Timing of Agonist and Antagonist Muscles

The experiment examined the effects of movement time (MT) and distance on the timing of electromyographic (EMG) activity from an agonist and antagonist muscle during rapid, discrete elbow movements in the horizontal plane. According to impulse-timing theory (Wallace, 1981) MT, not distance moved, should have a pronounced effect on the timing of EMG activity (duration of initial agonist and antagonist burst and time to onset of initial antagonist burst). The levels of MT were 100 and 160 msec and the levels of distance were 27° and 45° of elbow flexion. In general support of impulse-timing theory, the results of the three EMG timing measures showed that MT had a more pronounced effect on these measures than distance. In addition, the timing of EMG activity in relation to total MT remained fairly consistent across the four MT-distance conditions.     

Tethered insect flight: A system for automated data processing of behavioral events

Flight mills to which flying insects are tethered, and which allow measurement of locomotion in a circular path, are used to measure flight capability in terms of frequency, duration, velocity, and distance. Also, they are adaptable to measurement of physiological processes such as respiration and energy consumption. We describe a flight-mill system with floating magnets and Teflon® bearings in its rotor that minimize frictional drag. Rotation (of the mill rotor) is transduced by interruption of a light beam to a phototransistor, which produces a signal monitored by a specially constructed event recorder. The event recorder temporarily stores the data from each mill and then transmits them in proper format for permanent storage on seven-track magnetic tape. The system allows simultaneous data collection from 18 individual insects and provides a computerized interpretation of their performance. The result is an analysis of all the significant parameters of flight that can be derived by measuring duration, velocity, distance, and frequency.