Accession No
6378
Brief Description
equipment to record parent-child social interaction and child behaviour, Made and used in the Medical Psychology Unit, University of Cambridge, English, 1965-1979 (c)
Origin
England; Cambridge; University of Cambridge; Medical Psychology Unit
Maker
Class
laboratory apparatus; medical
Earliest Date
1965
Latest Date
1979
Inscription Date
Material
metal (aluminium, brass, various); plastic (various); organic (rubber); paper; paint
Dimensions
[keyboard] length: 305mm; width: 257mm; height: 107mm [bleeper] length: 135mm; width 90mm; height 57mm [paper recorder] length: 220mm; width: 180mm; height 85mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Donated by an individual at the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge; Free School Lane; Cambridge; CB2 3RF. Used at the Centre for Family Research for experiments involving parent-child social interaction.
Inscription
On stickers attached to the keyboard: ‘Red numbers - data keys’
‘child, child + mother, child + me, child + other’
‘stand, amble, next kitchen, mastu?, TV chairs?, see TV, stereo walk?, front moving, purpose walk, out-skirts, next ward’
‘5 Salisbury Villas, Station Rd, Cambridge, Cam 58708’ [on stickers on side of keyboard]
‘Medical Psychology Unit
Old Cavendish Building
Free School Lane
Cambridge CB2 3RF
Tel. (0223) 58381’ [sticker on underside of paper recording unit]
‘SAIA AG, Muten/Schweiz
Typ: AMY 5-A 15SR 240V 50Hz 674 Swiss made’ [on side of paper recording unit]
Description Notes
Equipment to record parent-child social interaction and child behaviour; made and used in the Medical Psychology Unit, University of Cambridge; c.1965-1979. Plus accompanying manuscript material and papers detailing experiments carried out with this equipment.
6378.1: Keyboard and attached battery case.
Keyboard for recording different interactions between children and others. Aluminium casing that houses 21 buttons, labelled with stickers denoting different functionalities (some lettered and some with named functions). Additional stickers are stuck to other areas of the keyboard, and were swapped in and out depending on the nature of the experiment. Port for 24 pin connector cable on side of unit. Aluminium battery case with black plastic top is connected to the unit by wires. Batteries not accessioned due to leaking chemical hazard, but those disposed of were 2x UHER typ Z 212, Sonnenschein dryfit PC 3Gx3 6V 2.6Ah, Made in Western Germany.
6378.2: Bleeper unit.
Timer device that emits a beep at pre-set intervals for sampling the behaviour of the child. The beep prompts the experimenter when to record the child’s behaviour. Brown painted metal unit. On is on/off switch, connector and timer switch marked 10, 20, 30 (presumably for intervals in seconds?). Unit has sticker marked ‘7’ on the top side.
6378.3: Paper chart recorder.
Electrically powered paper chart recorder, made by SAIA AG, model number AMY 5-A 15SR 240V 50Hz 674. Switzerland (maker’s sticker on side of unit). Brass unit with transparent plastic top. Electric motor winds paper chart through the device. Medical Psychology Unit sticker on underside. Connected to 3-pin mains plug.
6378.4: Connecting cable.
1x 24 pin cable, for connecting keyboard to other apparatus.
6378.5: circuit diagram for bleeper unit.
A4 circuit diagram (carbon copy with manuscript additions in pencil) on paper: ‘Bleeper’ 6830. HLL DEC ‘67.
6378.6: report sent to parents.
Typewritten report (5 pages) sent to parents participating in the experiment, explaining the purpose of the experiments and the preliminary findings.
6376.7: draft of paper by Martin Richards, ‘The development of communication in the first year of life’
Draft of paper presenting results from experiments using this apparatus, presented at the symposium on Competence in Infancy, held at the Ciba Foundation in January 1972.
References
Events
Description
This equipment was used by psychologists at the University of Cambridge in the 1970s to investigate the interactions between parents and young children. Psychologists visited families in their homes, to replicate the normal environment of interaction -- hence portable equipment was required.
The experimenter observed children interacting with other people and objects in the home. At regular time intervals, indicated by a noise from the bleeper, the experimenter recorded different aspects of the child’s behaviour and interactions using the keyboard. Buttons on the keyboard logged the child undertaking a particular activity, interacting with its mother, interacting with the experimenter or interacting with other adults. As different experiments focused on particular behaviours, the keyboard has a set of stickers marked with behaviours such as ‘stand’, ‘amble’, ‘purpose walk’, and ‘see TV’ that were interchangeable with others on the keys. A paper chart recorder was also used to create a record of the experiment through time, and the researcher marked significant behaviours on the paper chart running through the recorder.
Accompanying this apparatus is a report that was sent to parents participating in the experiments, explaining the purpose of the work and some preliminary findings.
15/03/2010
Created by: Ruth Horry on 15/03/2010
FM:46887
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