Using microcomputers to control student-designed research in a research methods course

Microcomputers may be used to simulate traditional equipment in the psychology laboratory, such as tachistoscopes, memory drums, and reaction timers. With the diminishing price of microcomputers, such simulation is especially attractive, since it is considerably less expensive than the original special-purpose equipment, and also allows greater versatility. The undergraduate laboratory described here requires only inexpensive microcomputers, simple experimental control programs, and little or no additional peripheral equipment.     

Parallel processing strategies in the application of microcomputers to the behavioral laboratory

The Operant Package for the Neurosciences (OPN) is a software system that runs on the TRS-80 Model I and Model III and the Apple II+ and Apple lie microcomputers. It is designed to allow a single microcomputer to control behavioral experiments in up to eight different stations, record experimental data, and provide detailed data analysis. Although segments of the program are written in BASIC, allowing users to interact with OPN in a simple English question-and-answer format, the part that provides real-time experimental control is written in Z-80 assembly language. The present report describes in detail assembly language algorithms that we found to facilitate speed of processing and flexibility of control. Particular problems dealt with how to update and change flag variables controlling the reinforcement contingencies and output conditions in each station, as well as how to decide when each station should shift contingencies. The solutions to these problems utilize byte-oriented parallel processing strategies, converting serially organized reference information for each station into a group of working flag bytes that control contingency and output variables for all stations in parallel.     

How research in behavioral pharmacology informs behavioral science

Behavioral pharmacology is a maturing science that has made significant contributions to the study of drug effects on behavior, especially in the domain of drug-behavior interactions. Less appreciated is that research in behavioral pharmacology can have, and has had, implications for the experimental analysis of behavior, especially its conceptualizations and theory. In this article, I outline three general strategies in behavioral pharmacology research that have been employed to increase understanding of behavioral processes. Examples are provided of the general characteristics of the strategies and of implications of previous research for behavior theory. Behavior analysis will advance as its theories are challenged.     

Digital filters in behavioral research

Behavioral control is almost always less than perfect. Rate of response is rarely as constant as it could be even when the greatest care is given to experimental procedures. Experimenters should always attempt to identify the causes of variation. Some fluctuations in response rate will be random, i.e., sometimes positive and sometimes negative, usually small but occasionally large. Digital filters are objective methods for reducing or eliminating such unsystematic “noise” components while preserving the systematic changes in response rate under study. Digital filters function in a manner that is strictly analogous to electronic filters. The major purpose of this technical note is to describe digital filters and to provide an example of their usage.     

Interface systems in behavioral research

The methods and criteria to be used for the design of a general interface system are evaluated in the light of the number, variety, and variability of the data points in behavioral experimentation. A simple and flexible interface scheme is presented that should satisfy the needs of a behavioral research laboratory.     

Effects of availability of microcomputers on student and faculty research

The effect of the widespread availability of microcomputers on research is discussed. Student projects in a course in computer applications in psychology improved markedly, and faculty who had previously not believed that there was great value in using computers discovered innovative ways of facilitating their research.     

An improved video multiplexer for behavioral research

Wellens and Revert (1979) described a solid-state circuit that allowed two sources of video information to be multiplexed and recorded using one videotape machine. On playback, the demultiplexed video signal allowed the original video channels to be viewed independently on separate television monitors. Recent changes in videocassette recorder technology have improved the playback quality of recorded images but disrupt the demultiplexing process when freeze frame or search options are selected. Improved multiplexing techniques that overcome these limitations are described.     

Mediation of artifacts in behavioral research

An integrative artifact model is developed from a combination of role theory and McGuire's information-processing theory of social influence. The main extraneous sources of systematic error are reduced to three conjoint mediators, the end product of which determines the likelihood that a subject will positively or negatively react to demand characteristics. Conditions thought to affect the mediating variables are noted, and the practical advantage of this combinatory view is discussed as it applies to estimating the inferential validity of experimental findings in psychology.     

Software timing for 6500 series microcomputers

Two machine language programs are presented for use in behavioral research requiring timing of reaction latencies, stimulus presentations, or intertrial intervals. Sample programs in BASIC show how to load and use the subroutines, and suggestions are made for possible modifications to a variety of situations.     

Computerized process control in behavioral science research

A general approach to the design and development of real-time operating systems is discussed. Operating system design for small to medium scale laboratory computers is described at a moderately elementary level. Analysis of system design as a supervisory control hierarchy is presented in an attempt to bridge the gap between an elementary general understanding of computer operation and the more sophisticated understanding assumed by the writers of most computer systems operator’s manuals. PROSS, a programming language developed at Indiana University, is presented as an example of the highest level of supervisory control.     

Some unsettled problems in behavioral neuroscience research

The goal of behavioral neuroscience is to map psychological concepts onto physiological and anatomical concepts and vice versa. The present paper reflects on some of the hidden obstacles that have to be overcome in order to find unique psychophysiological relationships. These are, among others: (1) the different status of concepts which are defined in the two domains (ontological subjectivity in psychology and ontological objectivity in physiology); (2) the distinct hierarchical levels to which concepts from the two domains may belong; (3) ambiguity of concepts, because—due to limited measurement resolution or definitional shortcomings—they sometimes do not cover unique states or processes; (4) ignored context dependencies. Moreover, it is argued that due to the gigantic number of states and state changes, which are possible in a nervous system, it seems unlikely that neuroscience can provide exact causal explanations and predictions of behavior. Rather, as in statistical thermodynamics the transition from the microlevel of explanations to the macrolevel is only possible with probabilistic uncertainty.     

An inexpensive videoprojection/digitization system for behavioral research

We present an inexpensive approach to image analysis of spatial coordinates for behavioral research. Image analysis of still video images (freeze frames) with current technology can be prohibitively expensive, as well as time consuming. The system outlined here provides an accurate, inexpensive, and fast approach to acquiring information from videotape. It consists simply of a video monitor, bellows, large diameter lens, and a digitizing tablet. The images are projected onto a digitizing tablet, and data acquisition is controlled with a series of three functions written in APL. We used this system to acquire positional information on fish responding to the threat of aerial predation. We discuss several approaches to design and construction of this system, as well as provide computer listings for initiation of communication with digitization boards.     

Voice recognition technology as a tool for behavioral research

Behavioral research often requires the acquisition and processing of large volumes of data. Most current techniques for recording behavior constrain the amount and type of data that can be measured. We developed and tested a system that uses voice recognition technology to collect data on the social interactions and singing patterns of cowbirds (Molothrus ater) living outdoors in a semi-natural environment. We spoke observation data into a wireless microphone that transmitted the data to a computer in the laboratory. After collection, the data were automatically checked for errors and then were entered into a database. Overall, the system performed at extremely high levels of accuracy Furthermore, owing to the removal of constraints on observers such as breaking visual contact with subjects and manual data entry into a database, we were able to increase the amount of data collected and to collect new measures of social interactions that have not been available to us in the past. We tested the system under the challenging circumstances of field observation, and it performed above our expectations. In a laboratory setting, if transmission difficulties are removed, voice recognition could be even more accurate. We recommend voice recognition as a powerful new tool for the variety of research fields in which measuring behavior is involved.