An inexpensive 1-millisecond experiment control interface for IBM PCs and its user-friendly control language

An inexpensive, professionally manufactured, digital I/O experiment control interface for any PC-compatible computer is described. It plugs into a standard printer port and provides 1-msec accuracy for up to 4 inputs and 22 outputs. It also allows experiment control procedures to be written in an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use Experiment Control language (ECBASIC). In addition to many instructions specifically designed to simplify behavioral research, ECBASIC provides for transparent collection and storage of event logs.     

An inexpensive experiment controller for stand-alone applications or distributed processing networks

An inexpensive microprocessor-based experiment controller available as a commercially produced bare printed circuit board is described. It provides for up to 8 inputs and 40 outputs. An 8K Experiment Control BASIC (ECBASIC) and a compiled Experiment Control Language (ECL) are also available. Both languages have internal structures that enable time and responses to be dealt with in a very convenient and error-free manner. Time and response count are automatically incrementing variables that need only to be tested by the user program. ECBASIC provides a 10-msec accuracy, whereas ECL provides a l-msec accuracy. ECL provides extensive support for event-driven programs. The board and software are designed to provide an orderly migration from a stand-alone controller running ECBASIC as a relay-rack replacement, to a network of ECBASIC machines on a small computer, to a true error-checking network of ECL machines on a time-sharing operating system of a large computer. Network communication is over the three wires of a single unmodified RS232 asynchronous serial communication line.     

An experimental study of interethnic competition in segregated schools

Decomposed matrix games were used to study interethnic competition in the triethnic school system of a southwestern city. The sample consisted of sixth-grade males from segragated schools. In addition to the data from the matrix games, brief questionnaire measures of internal vs. external locus of control, self-esteem, and authoritarianism were also obtained. The results on the game matrices indicated that the anglos competed more and were less trusting than the blacks or chicanos. The questionnaire results indicated that the blacks were highest on feelings of external control and on authoritarianism, while the chicanos were lowest in self-esteem. Cooperative interethnic work groups were suggested as a means of coping with the problems that these differences might be expected to cause in integrated schools.     

Depth adjacency and the rod-and-frame illusion

The effects of psychological set on perception of first and second pain were determined for 20 subjects. Percutaneous electrical shock intensities (6–8 mA, 3 msec) sufficient to evoke double pain responses were used in all subjects. Psychological sets included PAST (“Place yourself in a previous experience that was free of any significant emotional tone”), PRESENT (“Feel your foot that will be shocked”), and FUTURE (“Think to yourself that you are about to be shocked”). Perception of second pain was never perceived in PAST and FUTURE sets but was always perceived in the PRESENT set. Furthermore, at minimal rates of stimulation ( > 1/3 sec), summation of second pain occurred in the PRESENT set but not in the FUTURE set. All subjects startled in the FUTURE set and did not startle in PAST or PRESENT sets. Each subject reported that the aversiveness of the shock related to painful sensations in PAST and PRESENT sets and to ones own body responses in the FUTURE set.     

Micro Experimental Laboratory: An integrated system for IBM PC compatibles

Micro Experimental Laboratory (MEL) is a third-generation integrated software system for experimental research. The researcher fills in forms, and MEL writes the experimental program, runs the experiments, and analyzes the data. MEL includes a form-based user interface, automatic programming, computer tutorials, a compiler, a real-time data acquisition system, database management, statistical analysis, and subject scheduling. It can perform most reaction time, questionnaire, and text comprehension experiments with little or no programming. It includes a Pascal-like programming language and can call routines written in standard languages. MEL operates on IBM PC compatible computers and supports most display controllers. MEL maintains millisecond timing with high-speed text and graphics presentation. MEL provides a systematic approach to dealing with nine concerns in running an experimental laboratory.     

A complementary—Empowering model of ministerial leadership

Conclusion In conclusion, we suggest that both contemporary leadership effectiveness theory and a Biblical view of leadership empowering point to what we have called a complementary-empowering model of ministerial leadership. The varying levels of maturity to be found in any congregation require an adaptable leadership style that addresses each member of the congregation at his/her level of maturity and empowers that person for ministry and leadership in the church and community. The skills needed to lead persons at each of the maturity levels are not always given to every minister, thus the complementarity of the Body of Christ provides a variety of gifted leaders who together can empower believers for lives of service to the Body and ministry in the community.     

The existence and role of retinotopic and spatiotopic forms of visual persistence

Current theoretical conceptualizations of visual persistence fail to address the issue of its functional role. Based on extant experimental data we tentatively identify two general types of visual persistence: one resides in activity along the afferent visual pathway and is retinotopically organized; the other resides at central levels and is spatiotopically organized. Moreover, whereas the former afferent persistence is eliminated via saccadic suppression mechanisms in order to separate successive, retinotopic frames of pattern information, the latter, central one, in contrast, is generated and enhanced via extraretinal signals accompanying saccades in order to preserve phenomenal continuity of a stable spatiotopic representation of the environment from one fixation to the next.     

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.