Enhancing a standard experimental delivery system (MEL) for advanced psychological experimentation

Enhancements to the Micro Experimental Laboratory (MEL) and the ways in which they facilitate development of psychological experiments are discussed in this paper. New procedures are described for (1) presenting and manipulating pictorial graphics, (2) inputting response box, voice key, joystick, digitized speech, and mouse responses, (3) outputting lights, speech, and tone stimuli, (4) editing and analyzing digitized speech, and (5) implementing multitask processing. Methods for extending the language, developing test batteries, sequencing subjects, and managing and analyzing data are described.     

Automation of learning-set testing: The video-task paradigm

Researchers interested in studying discrimination learning in primates have typically utilized variations in the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA). In the present experiment, a new testing apparatus for the study of primate learning is proposed. In the video-task paradigm, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) respond to computer-generated stimuli by manipulating a joystick. Using this apparatus, discrimination learning-set data for 2 monkeys were obtained. Performance on Trial 2 exceeded 80% within 200 discrimination learning problems. These data illustrate the utility of the video-task paradigm in comparative research. Additionally, the efficient learning and rich data that were characteristic of this study suggest several advantages of the present testing paradigm over traditional WGTA testing.     

Automated data collection using bar code

Using bar code technology to automate data collection provides a rapid and reliable alternative to paper-and-pencil tracking or keyboard entry into pocket or laptop computer. An array of bar code symbols is printed on a data menu, with a unique symbol corresponding to each possible observation. Bar code symbols are scanned using hand-held readers, which record the event, log the observation time, and store data for transfer to a personal computer. Advantages of the bar code monitoring system include: (1) ease of use by staff with minimal technical training, (2) reduced data entry errors and increased entry speed, (3) reliable portable operation, and (4) low-cost hardware. While the bar code system described here is used for behavioral monitoring in a residential treatment setting for the developmentally disabled, with minimal modification this system can be adapted for use in a wide variety of research and clinical applications.     

Angular homeostasis: IV. Polygonal orbits

Some properties are discussed of regular polygons that may result from angular homeostatic processes in stable orbit. To characterize these homeostatic polygons we need to discuss the winding number, the sidedness (integer, fractional and irrational), multiplicity, envelopes, and density. A regular (i.e., equilateral, equiangular) polygon may be closed in one revolution about its unique center, in multiple revolutions, or not at all. A homeostatic polygon can be generated only if all vertices are included in a single polygon, which occurs if and only if the number of vertices and the number of revolutions required to complete the polygon are relatively prime. For the homeostatic polygon to have a finite number of sides (without repeating itself) the angle subtended by any two successive vertices at the center must be a rational multiple of 2. Biological implications of these properties are illustrated.     

Just health care (II): Is equality too much?

In a previous essay I criticized Engelhardt's libertarian conception of justice, which grounds the view that society's obligation to assure access to adequate health care for all is a matter of beneficence [1]. Beneficence fails to capture the moral stringency associated with many claims for access to health care. In the present paper I argue that these claims are really matters of justice proper, where justice is conceived along moderate egalitarian lines, such as those suggested by Rawls and Daniels, rather than strong egalitarian lines. Further, given the empirical complexity associated with the distribution of contemporary health care, I argue that what we really need to address the relevant policy issues adequately is a theory of health care justice, as opposed to an all-purpose conception of justice. Daniels has made an important start toward that goal, though there are some large policy areas which I discuss that his account of health care justice does not really speak to. Finally, practical matters of health care justice really need to be addressed in a ‘non-ideal’ mode, a framework in which philosophers have done little.     

A program for constructing SVT tests: An alternative way of assessing text comprehension

The sentence verification technique (SVT), developed by Royer, Hastings, and Hook (1979), provides developmental and educational researchers with an alternative way of assessing text comprehension based on all of the information contained in a passage. Students must decide if test sentences have the same meaning as sentences that appeared in an original passage. The program described here automates the more laborious aspects of constructing SVT tests. The user must create a passage using a word processor. The program will prompt the user for information as needed. Finally, printable text files (SVT test and answer key) are generated. The program is written in BASIC for IBM and IBM-compatible computers.     

Abuse of persons with mental retardation: A literature review

The literature reports a number of reasons why abuse of people with mental retardation occurs. These causes of abusive behavior can be divided into three categories: organizational variables, staff characteristics, and client characteristics. The author examines each of the variables and presents recommendations for reducing their contributions to abusive behavior.     

Teaching dancercise to persons who are mentally handicapped: Programming transfer of stimulus control to a community setting

This study demonstrated procedures to promote the acquisition and transfer of stimulus control of an age-appropriate exercise skill. Three young adults diagnosed as mentally handicapped in a residential setting were taught a commercial dancercise routine during individual training sessions using a package of instructional procedures. A combination of a multiple baseline across subjects and a multiple baseline across response groups design showed that skill acquisition occurred only after each subject received training, and that performance did not generalize across exercise response groups. Training progressively incorporated more participants, new teachers, and new settings. Ultimately, subjects performed in a community dancercise class attended by 100 nonhandicapped persons.