Psychophysiological Measurement of Covert Behavior

By the 1970s psychology had made sizable advances with its primary emphasis on the study of overt behavior, but its progress on covert behavior had been delayed because of the lack of suitable psychophysiological technology. Originally published in 1979, this title was written to help laboratory researchers in their efforts to develop a mature science of covert behavior. Early efforts to record small-scale behavior with flattened wine glasses about the tongue were heroic, but understandably progress did not begin until the advent of very sensitive electronic equipment. In 1979 we were now technologically capable of: (1) sensing; (2) amplifying; (3) recording; and (4) quantifying small-scale behavior with at least the effectiveness with which we have studied large-scale responses. It was hoped that this book would facilitate the empirical efforts of future psychophysiologists and professional researchers in each of these four phases of the laboratory system. More generally it was hoped that it would serve as an important component in our efforts to understand behavior. Today it can be read in its historical context.