cumulative recorder
Date: 1955-1960
Inventory Number: WJ1230
Classification: Cumulative Recorder
Subject:
Maker: Ralph Gerbrands Company (1930 - 1994)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
23.5 × 37.5 × 18.5 cm (9 1/4 × 14 3/4 × 7 5/16 in.)
Material:
Description:
This 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 (missing) recording fed from a storage roll (also missing) over a drive. 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 (missing) is carried on a traversing carriage. The second stylus (also missing) 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 (missing) recording fed from a storage roll (also missing) over a drive. 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 (missing) is carried on a traversing carriage. The second stylus (also missing) 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
Inscribedon cover: 96 RONALD ROAD / ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS / PATENT APPLIED FOR
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."
Curatorial RemarksThe Gerbrands cumulative recorder mechanism was patented in 1960.
Primary SourcesU.S. Patent Office, "High Speed Count Recorder", patented March 1, 1960, patent number 2,926,984. (Accessible online here).
ProvenanceCenter for Behavioral Sciences, William James Hall, Harvard University.