A running wheel tachometer

A photocell-actuated tachometer for running wheels is described. The number of counts generated per revolution of the wheel is a function of the number of trip wires inserted in the hub of the wheel axle. The circuit is presented in configurations that actuate relay contact closures and as a direct driver of TTL logic.     

Secondary school curriculum and career behavior in young adults

As part of a larger longitudinal study of the effects of secondary school characteristics on career behavior in young adulthood, this paper presents findings obtained from 1007 males and females who graduated from high school in academic or vocational curricula 6 or 8 years ago. Criterion behavior included the completion of career development tasks in the exploration and establishment life stages as measured by the Adult Form of the Career Development Inventory, certainty about immediate occupational plans, and satisfaction with occupational goals and progress toward meeting them. Significant differences were found in the pattern of career development by curriculum but not by sex, in certainty by curriculum and sex, and in satisfaction by neither curriculum nor sex. The implications for a stage theory of career development are discussed.     

Temporal ordering deficits following anterior temporal lobectomy

Subjects were required to report the pitch sequence of two 10-msec tones of different frequency presented monaurally while the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the two tones was varied. The value of the SOA at which the subjects achieved an 80% correct sequence report was determined by an adaptive procedure without feedback. This measure was compared in the right and left ears, on subjects with a right or left anterior temporal lobectomy and on a normal control group. The results reveal an elevated threshold for performing temporal order judgments in the ear contralateral to the surgical lesion.     

The Marital Communication Rating Schedule: An instrument for clinical assessment

The Marital Communication Rating Schedule (MCRaS) is presented as an observationally based clinical rating system for assessing verbal behavior in marital communication. Data from 35 response display discussions lasting from 20 to 30 min each, which took place between 11 married couples, were used to examine aspects of the reliability and validity of the instrument. Three raters made independent ratings of 37 MCRaS categories for each husband and wife for each discussion period. Reliability among the raters was shown to be high when calculated within one scale point. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing MCRaS ratings for four categories with observationally based validation criteria independently coded and measured. Results indicated that for three categories — negative statements, overgeneralizations, and amount of talk — ratings produced results that were similar to those yielded by laborious coding of audiotapes. For one category, opinions requested, a relationship between the ratings and coded data was not found. The validation results were discussed in terms of possible differences in the basis of ratings for the categories subjected to validation. Although further research is needed, it was concluded that MCRaS has many of the desirable qualities needed in a clinically useful, observationally based rating system.This investigation was conducted in connection with the Sociobehavioral Research Project at The University of Michigan when Joyce Borkin and Claude L. Walter were affiliated with the project.     

Getting an on-line departmental teaching laboratory on-line

The major problems faced in building a department-wide undergraduate, computer-based teaching laboratory are discussed: selling the concept of the “ultimate dry lab,” assembling the hardware, motivating and rewarding faculty and staff effort, devising a systems approach for curriculum design, and program evaluation.     

An on-line laboratory in cognition and perception

The design of a computer-based laboratory system requires the coordination of pedagogical and technical goals. The development of our on-line laboratory in cognition and perception is described. The laboratory consists of 11 on-line experiments in which the student participates as both experimenter and subject. The software was designed for maximum transportability: Programs were written in a low-level BASIC, with thorough documentation; flexibility is provided both within and across experiments to suit local constraints; and the experiments are supported by a student manual, instructor’s manual, and implementation notes. Criteria for selecting experiments, implementation of the experiments, and preliminary evaluation of the laboratory are discussed.     

Memory processes in the identification of pitch

A study in pitch identification with three interstimulus intervals is reported. Ss received a pretest, three drills, and a posttest. Results include: (a) superior performance on stimuli requiring only a simple discrimination judgment, (b) inferior performance at longer interstimulus intervals, (c) a greater tendency to repeat correct rather than incorrect responses to adjacent tones at the same pitch level, and (d) a modest, but reliable, improvement in pitch identification accuracy from the pre- to the posttest. Relevance of the results for an interpretation of pitch identification as dependent on memory processes is discussed.