A FORCE-TRANSDUCING MANIPULANDUM FOR USE WITH DOGS.
A 1965 tech note gives BCBAs a dog-friendly lever plan, inspiring later animal-operant work.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new lever for dogs. The lever measures how hard the dog presses.
No dogs were trained in this paper. The paper only shows photos and wiring diagrams.
What they found
There are no results. The paper simply says, “Here is a tool you can use.”
How this fits with other research
Dixon et al. (2008) later urged behavior analysts to study dogs. Their review treats this 1965 lever as an early step toward dog labs.
Maddox et al. (2015) and Poling et al. (2011) moved the idea to rats. They shaped rats to find people and land-mines, showing the same hardware mind-set can jump species.
Dinsmoor (1958) built a safer shock grid for rats. Both papers are 1950-60s gadget notes with zero data, so they match in spirit even though the species differ.
Why it matters
If you ever need a custom response device for a non-human client, copy the mind-set: build simple, measure force, share the blueprint. The paper reminds us that good hardware often comes before good data.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Sketch a force-sensitive pad for your client’s paw, nose, or hand—then test if it records every response.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Experimental animals used in this study were handled in accordance with the Principles of Laboratory Animal Care promulgated by the National Society for Medical Research (Ref. ‐AR70‐18, 20 Nov 61). The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official Department of Army policy.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1965 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1965.8-313