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An Electronic System for Recording Ongoing Behavior in Real Time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

A. Desmond Poole
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Belfast City Hospital, Northern Ireland
R. W. Sanson-Fisher
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle, New South Wales,
Ian Lowe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Australia

Extract

A number of problems associated with the use of the commonly employed interval and event recording procedures are discussed and it is suggested that these problems may be overcome by the use of real time recording techniques. An electronic system for recording ongoing behavior is described. The Data Acquisition in Real Time II (DART II) system consists of an open-format, microprocessor-controlled coding unit which permits the recording of the onset and offset of discrete behaviors as they occur in real time. It is completely portable, totally silent in operation, allows up to 60 discrete behavioral categories to be coded, provides comprehensive feedback to the user, and can store data almost indefinitely in a form which allows for direct transfer to computer for analysis. While the DART II system may be employed for interval or event recording, its use in a two-channel configuration to record the interactions between a target subject and several input persons is described. Advantages of the system are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1982

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