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.