Real-time computing in psychology at the University of Colorado.

Bailey, Daniel E.; Polson, Peter G.

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.30.3.212

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Users with relatively little technical background can rapidly program experiments that are within the scope of a given special-purpose language. Bailey and Polson (1975) point out that the limited scope of a given language MICROPROCESSORS 145 is a very serious drawback. Such languages are incredibly expensive to develop.…”

Section: User Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many recent discussions of the state of the art of real-time computing in psychology have concluded that a vast majority of users will program such systems in a higher level language (Bailey & Polson, 1975;Castellan, 1975;Wood, Sette, & Weiss, 1975). Very few researchers would or could deal directly with the complexity of a multiprocessor system like the Sigma 3/CLIPR-l combination at the assembly language level.…”

Section: User Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The CLIPR laboratory has been described in detail elsewhere (Bailey, 1972, Note 1;Bailey & Polson, 1975). The laboratory is based on a large Xerox Sigma 3 CPU with 64K 16-bit words of memory, over 100M bytes of disk storage, a line printer and card reader, a large amount of communications equipment that interfaces various types of terminals to the Sigma 3, and numerous specialized interfaces for laboratory equipment.…”

Section: Developments In Real-time Computing Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microprocessors: Their impact on real-time computing in psychology

Polson

1978

Behav. Res. Meth. Instru.

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This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of microprocessors and other products using large-scale integrated circuit technologies with a set of examples of past, current, and proposed computer applications in psychological research. I first discuss a number of developments in real-time computing that have taken place during the last 10 years. The major part of this paper describes future developments in the Computer Laboratory for Instruction in Psychological Research. We are developing an intelligent high-speed communication network that will enable computers and terminals to communicate with each other. In addition, we are developing a microprocessor-based real-time computer system. The network, the real-time system, and the general assumption underlying the development of the next generation of CLIPR facilities are described.Automation of a psychological research laboratory is a very demanding application area for the current state of the art in real-time computing. Input and output data rates can range from a few bits per second (bps) to over 100,000 bps across classes of experimental paradigms. A constant requirement is that the system must be able to respond very rapidly to real-time events such as the end of a time interval or a keypress in order to control durations of stimuli and record response latencies accurately. In addition, a maximally useful system must have the software tools to enable a researcher to quickly develop new applications programs. Research paradigms and problems change rapidly in many areas of psychology, and thus investigators are unwilling to wait 6 months to I year for the development of a single program. 139This paper presents my opinions on the future impact that microprocessors, and other large-scale integration (LSI) technology, will have on automation in psychology laboratories. I begin with a discussion of views on the functional requirements for real-time computer systems for psychological research, and then describe an early PDP-8 based system and the system at Colorado based on the Xerox Sigma 3. These two systems are examples of the end points on a continuum defined by a laboratory computer for a single individual vs. a central, shared facility for a whole department.The major portions of this paper describe a new multiprocessor system that we are developing in the Computer Laboratory for Instruction in Psychological Research (CLlPR). This new system will integrate a wide variety of microprocessor-based applications ranging from special-purpose controllers and intelligent terminals to general-purpose real-time computing systems. The separate processors will be linked over a microprocessor-controlled communicaThis paper is an expanded version of the Presidential Address that I presented to the Seventh Annual Meeting of the National Conference on the Use of On-Line Computers in Psychology. The work described here represents the joint efforts of all members of CUPR. I especially wish to thank Terry Spear and Tom Christian for their contributions to my understanding of the...

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Section: User Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: User Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Developments In Real-time Computing Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microprocessors: Their impact on real-time computing in psychology

Polson

1978

Behav. Res. Meth. Instru.

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“…The modules, as implied, correspond to the automation of various steps required in the development of an experiment. The foreground (real-time )/background (batch) organization of the CLIPR Xerox Sigma 3 (see Bailey & Polson, 1975) was utilized to permit maximum flexible use of the system. Of the six major programs, four are available in the batch environment, one runs as an on-line program (low priority real-time) and one in the real-time environment.…”

Section: Functional Modules Of Dtesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The amount of technical information with which a user had to become familiar was often enough to discourage the noncomputer oriented experimenter from using the powerful facilities available even for those paradigms ideally suited for computer implementation. This problem is well known, and several programming systems that attempt to ease the computer system-psychologist interface have been described (Mclean, 1969;Polson & Campbell, 1972 …”

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confidence: 99%