cumulative recorder
Datecirca 1960
Inventory Number1999-1-0008
ClassificationCumulative Recorder
Subject
Maker
Ralph Gerbrands Company
1930 - 1994
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensionswithout cord: 23.5 × 39 × 21 cm (9 1/4 × 15 3/8 × 8 1/4 in.)
Material
Accessoriesgrey power cord; spare roll of paper
DescriptionThis metallic box is essentially a mechanical pen that transcribes input signals on a sheet of paper rotating on a cylindrical drum. A hinged plexiglass cover is used to protect the mechanism.
The case contains a roll of paper recording fed from a storage roll over a drive roll. This instrument is powered by an electric motor. The storage roll is rotated by hand with the black knob on the side.
The movable stylus is carried on a traversing carriage. The second stylus is a non moveable one, which records information on the margin of the paper. The carriage is moved along its supporting guide rods by means of a cable clamped to the back of the carriage by two drums. This drive and clutch mechanism is complex and is at the heart of the novelty of this recorder.
To record operant responses in a Skinnerian conditioning experiment.
The case contains a roll of paper recording fed from a storage roll over a drive roll. This instrument is powered by an electric motor. The storage roll is rotated by hand with the black knob on the side.
The movable stylus is carried on a traversing carriage. The second stylus is a non moveable one, which records information on the margin of the paper. The carriage is moved along its supporting guide rods by means of a cable clamped to the back of the carriage by two drums. This drive and clutch mechanism is complex and is at the heart of the novelty of this recorder.
To record operant responses in a Skinnerian conditioning experiment.
Signedon cover: CUMULATIVE RECORDER / manufactured by / RALPH GERBRANDS COMPANY
on cover: 96 RONALD ROAD / ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS / U.S. PATENT No. 2,926,984
Inscribedon side, sticker: PROPERTY OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY 702701
FunctionAccording to the patent, "It is the object of this invention to provide a somewhat different form of recorder, adapted for indicating discontinuous phenomena, wherein the record is in the form of a step function rather than a smooth curve. It is a further object of this invention to provide a very high speed count recorder in which both the total number of counts and the varying rates at which the counts are received may be readily determined from the information provided by the record." [...]
"It is a further feature of this invention that the apparatus may be used to provide several types of information simultaneously on the same record. It is a still further feature of this invention that it will record a very high input rate of counts which may exceed 500 counts per minute while maintaining a clear and acurate [sic] record."
"It is a further feature of this invention that the apparatus may be used to provide several types of information simultaneously on the same record. It is a still further feature of this invention that it will record a very high input rate of counts which may exceed 500 counts per minute while maintaining a clear and acurate [sic] record."
ProvenanceProfessor John Michael Harrison, Department of Psychology, Boston University, pre-1998; gift to CHSI, 1999.
Ralph Gerbrands Company
Date: circa 1960
Accessories: grey power cord; roll of paper; spare pen; cleaning wire; rubber hat (under pens)
Object number: 1999-1-0007a
Ralph Gerbrands Company
Date: circa 1960
Accessories: Spare pen; roll of paper; power cord; cleaning wire; small sponge; gears (2)
Object number: 1999-1-0002
Ralph Gerbrands Company
Date: circa 1950
Accessories: bob hanging by green thread on side; black and red power cord; spare fastening pins in envelope; spare roll of paper
Object number: 1999-1-0004
Ralph Gerbrands Company
Date: circa 1965
Accessories: power cord (attached)
Object number: 1998-1-0012
Scientific Prototype Manufacturing Corporation
Date: circa 1960
Accessories: roll of paper; instruction manuals
Object number: 1999-1-0086
Ralph Gerbrands Company
Date: circa 1960
Object number: 1999-1-0056
