While FOCAL has become a commonplace calculational language in many small computer laboratories, the use of FOCAL as an experimental control system has been largely ignored. In the present paper, a 4K FOCAL laboratory system is described. Extensions to the FOCAL function and command lists provide for integer manipulations, high- and low-speed output, and a variable DO statement. By providing access to experimental peripheral devices, FOCAL can be used as a powerful operating system. As an illustration, a two-choice reaction time experiment is discussed, a FOCAL control program for this experiment is described, and an assembly language listing illustrates how changes to FOCAL can be made.
Authors
Link SW
Journal
Behavior Research Methods, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 137–142