Academic Roots: Columbia University, 1943–1951

Dinsmoor, James A.

doi:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-129

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…(Note: The Columbia University library was unable to find the dissertation on which the abstract seems to have been based: Carey, 1953. The dissertation research also is described briefly by Dinsmoor, 1990).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Resurgence of Temporal Patterns of Responding

Cançado

Lattal

2011

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The resurgence of temporal patterns of key pecking by pigeons was investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, positively accelerated and linear patterns of responding were established on one key under a discrete-trial multiple fixed-interval variable-interval schedule. Subsequently, only responses on a second key produced reinforcers according to a variable-interval schedule. When reinforcement on the second key was discontinued, positively accelerated and linear response patterns resurged on the first key, in the presence of the stimuli previously correlated with the fixed- and variable-interval schedules, respectively. In Experiment 2, resurgence was assessed after temporal patterns were directly reinforced. Initially, responding was reinforced if it approximated an algorithm-defined temporal pattern during trials. Subsequently, reinforcement depended on pausing during trials and, when it was discontinued, resurgence of previously reinforced patterns occurred for each pigeon and for 2 of 3 pigeons during a replication. The results of both experiments demonstrate the resurgence of temporally organized responding and replicate and extend previous findings on resurgence of discrete responses and spatial response sequences.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Resurgence of Temporal Patterns of Responding

Cançado

Lattal

2011

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consistent with this detail, Dinsmoor (1990) Ferster and Skinner (1957, pp. 22-23) subsequently described the use of snap leads as important for building flexible programming circuits, emphasizing how quickly and easily experimental conditions could be changed by using them.…”

Section: Connecting To Operant Conditioningmentioning

confidence: 68%

Nu-Way Snaps and Snap Leads: an Important Connection in the History of Behavior Analysis

Escobar

Lattal

2014

BEHAV ANALYST

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Beginning in the early 1950s, the snap lead became an integral and ubiquitous component of the programming of electromechanical modules used in behavioral experiments. It was composed of a Nu-Way snap connector on either end of a colored electrical wire. Snap leads were used to connect the modules to one another, thereby creating the programs that controlled contingencies, arranged reinforcers, and recorded behavior in laboratory experiments. These snap leads populated operant conditioning laboratories from their inception until the turn of the twenty-first century. They allowed quick and flexible programming because of the ease with which they could be connected, stacked, and removed. Thus, the snap lead was integral to the research activity that constituted the experimental analysis of behavior for more than five decades. This review traces the history of the snap lead from the origins of the snap connector in Birmingham, England, in the late eighteenth century, through the use of snaps connected to wires during the Second World War, to its adoption in operant laboratories, and finally to its demise in the digital age.Keywords Nu-Way snap . Snap lead . Newey Brothers . Snap fastener . Snap connector . Relay rack . Electromechanical modulesAlong with the operant conditioning chamber and the cumulative recorder, relay racks filled with electromechanical programming modules are iconic devices in the history of the experimental analysis of behavior. Many photographs of operant conditioning laboratories in the 1950s and 1960s show these relay racks populated with electromechanical modules connected together by spaghetti-like arrays of wires and metal connectors called "snap leads" (Catania 2002, Figs. 4 and 5;Goldiamond and Dyrud 1968; Gollub 2002, Figs. 2, 4, and 5).Before the advent of computers for experimental control and behavior recording, programming schedules of reinforcement, presenting stimuli, and creating different measures of behavior in the laboratory were accomplished by connecting relays and other electromechanical devices together (e.g., Ferster 1953;Ferster and Skinner 1957). Originally, relays and then the modules were simply laid out on a table and soldered together with lengths of wire. A problem with this arrangement was its inflexibility: Once a program was hardwired, the only way to change it was to unsolder the wires and resolder them into the new configuration (cf. Dinsmoor 1966). This inflexibility was the impetus for searching for faster and more flexible ways of arranging and changing the programs used to control the contingencies of reinforcement and punishment.

show abstract

“…The solenoids and the motor are driven by AC circuit completion. The use of AC circuitry was standard practice in many early operant laboratories (see, e.g., J. Dinsmoor, 1990), so the use of AC circuitry in this early model is not inconsistent with practices of the time.…”

Section: Details Of the Keio Recordermentioning

confidence: 98%

A Missing Link in the Evolution of the Cumulative Recorder

Asano

Lattal²

2012

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A recently recovered cumulative recorder provides a missing link in the evolution of the cumulative recorder from a modified kymograph to a reliably operating, scientifically and commercially successful instrument. The recorder, the only physical evidence of such an early precommercial cumulative recorder yet found, was sent to Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, in 1952 at the behest of B. F. Skinner at Harvard University. Last used in research in the late 1960s, the cumulative recorder remained locked in a storage room until 2007, when it was found again. A historical context for the recorder is followed by a description of the recorder and a comparison between it and the commercially successful Gerbrands Model C-1 recorder. Labeled the Keio recorder, it is a testament to Skinner's persistence in developing a reliable means of quantifying the behavior of living organisms in real time.

show abstract

Academic Roots: Columbia University, 1943–1951

Cited by 18 publications

References 55 publications

Resurgence of Temporal Patterns of Responding

Resurgence of Temporal Patterns of Responding

Nu-Way Snaps and Snap Leads: an Important Connection in the History of Behavior Analysis

A Missing Link in the Evolution of the Cumulative Recorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About