portable rod and frame apparatus
Date: 1970-1975
Inventory Number: 2003-1-0195
Classification: Rod and Frame Apparatus
Subject:
Maker: Polymetric Company (fl. 1968 - 1973)
Owner: Philip S. Holzman (1922 - 2004)
User: Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center (founded 1881)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
61.2 × 47.5 × 80.8 cm (24 1/8 × 18 11/16 × 31 13/16 in.)
Description:
Four rods form a rectangular plexiglass-paneled box. Affixed at each end is an adjustable wheel allowing the box to be tilted left or right along a central axis. One end of box features an open aperture with an adjustable head rest and small black velvet curtain that is raised or lowered via a lever to the left of aperture. The graduated line at the other end of the instrument is a 180° circular scale marked in degrees from 90 to 0 left and 0 to 90 right.
Used in psychology experiments involving vision.
Used in psychology experiments involving vision.
Signedon frame: Polymetric Company
on apparatus sticker: MICHAEL REESE HOSPITAL / AND MEDICAL CENTER
on apparatus sticker: MICHAEL REESE HOSPITAL / AND MEDICAL CENTER
Inscribedon instrument: ROD AND FRAME APPARATUS, PORTABLE / MODEL V-1260-AR
on small inventory sticker: Michael Reese Hospital / 10046 / and Medical Center
on small inventory sticker: Michael Reese Hospital / 10046 / and Medical Center
FunctionThe rod and frame test is a psychophysical method of testing perception.
The subject's chin rests on one of the yellow pads and the two other pads wedge teh sides of the head in place. A curtain is draped over the head to block ambient light and outside visual cues. The experimenter rotates the overall box by grabbing the edge of it and turning it clockwise or counterclockwise. The knob at the lower right adjusts the orientation of the "rod" inside. The otuside rear of the box is calibrated to show the inclination of the box and the rod.
The subject's chin rests on one of the yellow pads and the two other pads wedge teh sides of the head in place. A curtain is draped over the head to block ambient light and outside visual cues. The experimenter rotates the overall box by grabbing the edge of it and turning it clockwise or counterclockwise. The knob at the lower right adjusts the orientation of the "rod" inside. The otuside rear of the box is calibrated to show the inclination of the box and the rod.
Historical AttributesThis rod and frame apparatus was used by Philip Holzman, Esther and Sidney R. Rabb Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Harvard University and Director, Laboratory of Psychology, McLean Hospital, in Belmont, MA to study the effects of psychotropic medication on selected cognitive and perceptual measures in schizophrenic inpatients at McLean Hospital in the early 1980s.
Primary SourcesGrant A. Killian, Philip S. Holzman, John M. Davis, and Robert Gibbons, "Effects of Psychotropic Medication on Selected Cognitive and Perceptual Measures," Journal of Abnormal Psychology 93, no. 1 (1984): 58-70. See p. 61 for the use of this object.
Riley W. Gardner, Philip S. Holzman, George S. Klein, Harriet B. Linton, and Donald P. Spence, Cognitive Control: A Study of Individual Consistencies in Cognitive Behavior, Psychological Issues, vol. 1, no. 4, monograph 4 (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1959), 67-76.
Herman A. Witkin and Donald R. Goodenough, Cognitive Styles: Essence and Origins. Field Dependence and Field Independence, Psychological Issues, monograph 51 (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1981).
[copies of these are in the instrument's file]
Riley W. Gardner, Philip S. Holzman, George S. Klein, Harriet B. Linton, and Donald P. Spence, Cognitive Control: A Study of Individual Consistencies in Cognitive Behavior, Psychological Issues, vol. 1, no. 4, monograph 4 (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1959), 67-76.
Herman A. Witkin and Donald R. Goodenough, Cognitive Styles: Essence and Origins. Field Dependence and Field Independence, Psychological Issues, monograph 51 (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1981).
[copies of these are in the instrument's file]
ProvenancePhilip S. Holzman, Esther and Sidney R. Rabb Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Harvard University and Director, Laboratory of Psychology, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, pre-1977; gift to CHSI, 2003.
Published ReferencesPsychotropic Medication on Selected Cognitive and Perceptual Measures," Journal of Abnormal Psychology 93, no. 1 (1984): 58-70. See p. 61 and table 2 for the use of this object.