Behavioral control of visual fixation of the rhesus monkey.

Miller (1976) built a gadget that locks a monkey’s eyes in place. The setup uses a Maxwellian-view lens. This keeps the fovea on one tiny spot while tiny light flashes hit exact retinal points.

The paper tells how to train the monkey to sit and stare. No numbers on speed or trials are given. The goal was to give vision scientists a clean, stable picture.

The paper does not report new behavior data. It only shows the rig works. Monkeys held still long enough for mapped light spots to land on target retinal cells.

HEFFERLINE et al. (1963) also built a monkey holder, but for tail-shock work. Both rigs stop body motion so a stimulus lands in the right place. One uses pain; the other uses light.

Azrin et al. (1967) made a rat box that gives exact shock through floor electrodes. Miller (1976) gives exact light through eye optics. Same idea, different sense.

Schwartz et al. (1971) shaped rat key-pressing in one hour with an auto feeder. Miller (1976) shaped steady eye position with juice rewards. Both show you can automate the first response and save staff time.

If you run vision or eye-movement studies, this paper gives you a turnkey plan. You get steady fixation without holding the head in screws. That means cleaner data and kinder animals. Copy the lens setup, add juice, and you can test retinal maps, stimulus control, or reinforcement timing on single cells or whole behavior.