Abstract
We describe an original client-server approach to behavioral research control and the Whisker system, a specific implementation of this design. The server process controls several types of hardware, including digital input/output devices, multiple graphical monitors and touchscreens, keyboards, mice, and sound cards. It provides a way to access this hardware for client programs, communicating with them via a simple text-based network protocol based on the standard Internet protocol. Clients to implement behavioral tasks may be written in any network-capable programming language. Applications to date have been in experimental psychology and behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, using rodents, humans, nonhuman primates, dogs, pigs, and birds. This system is flexible and reliable, although there are potential disadvantages in terms of complexity. Its design, features, and performance are described.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belin, D., Mar, A. C., Dalley, J. W., Robbins, T. W., & Everitt, B. J. (2008). High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocainetaking. Science, 320, 1352–1355.
Bussey, T. J., Padain, T. L., Skillings, E. A., Winters, B. D., Morton, A. J., & Saksida, L. M. (2008). The touchscreen cognitive testing method for rodents: How to get the best out of your rat. Learning & Memory, 15, 516–523.
Bussey, T. J., Saksida, L. M., & Rothblat, L. A. (2001). Discrimination of computer-graphic stimuli by mice: A method for the behavioral characterization of transgenic and gene-knockout models. Behavioral Neuroscience, 115, 957–960.
Campden (2005). Behavioural Net Controller Icon. Loughborough, U.K.: Campden Instruments. Available at www.campdeninstruments.com.
Campden/Lafayette (2009). ABET-II Touch. Loughborough, U.K., and Lafayette, IN: Campden Instruments and Lafayette Instrument Company. Available at www.campdeninstruments.com and www.lafayetteinstrument.com.
Cardinal, R. N., & Aitken, M. R. F. (2008). Whisker. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from www.whiskercontrol.com.
Cerf, V. [G.], Dalal, Y., & Sunshine, C. (1974). RFC675—Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program. Internet Engineering Task Force. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0675.txt.
Cerf, V. G., & Kahn, R. E. (1974). A protocol for packet network intercommunication. IEEE Transactions on Communications, 22, 637–648.
Cohen, A., & Woodring, M. (1998). Win32 Multithreaded Programming. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
Dalley, J. W., Fryer, T. D., Brichard, L., Robinson, E. S., Theobald, D. E., Laane, K., et al. (2007). Nucleus accumbens D2/3 receptors predict trait impulsivity and cocaine reinforcement. Science, 315, 1267–1270.
Dixon, P. (2009). A hybrid approach to experimental control. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 615–622.
Fairchild, G., van Goozen, S. H., Stollery, S. J., Aitken, M. R., Savage, J., Moore, S. C., & Goodyer, I. M. (2009). Decision making and executive function in male adolescents with early-onset or adolescence-onset conduct disorder and control subjects. Biological Psychiatry, 66, 162–168.
Fray, P. J. (1980). ONLIBASIC, a system for experimental control. Trends in Neurosciences, 3, 13–14.
Fray, P. J. (1988). Spider (extension to BBC BASIC for the BBC Microcomputer). Cambridge: Paul Fray Ltd.
Fray, P. J. (1990). Arachnid (extension to BBC BASIC V for the Acorn Archimedes). Cambridge: Paul Fray Ltd.
Fray, P. J. (1993). Personal computers and the control of behavioural experiments. In A. Saghal (Ed.), Behavioural neuroscience: A practical approach (Vol. 1, pp. 185–210). New York: Oxford University Press.
Fray, P. J., & Robbins, T. W. (1996). CANTAB battery: Proposed utility in neurotoxicology. Neurotoxicology & Teratology, 18, 499–504.
Gibson, B. M., Wasserman, E. A., Frei, L., & Miller, K. (2004). Recent advances in operant conditioning technology: A versatile and affordable computerized touchscreen system. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 355–362.
Hutcheson, D. M., Everitt, B. J., Robbins, T. W., & Dickinson, A. (2001). The role of withdrawal in heroin addiction: Enhances reward or promotes avoidance? Nature Neuroscience, 4, 943–947.
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (2008). Port numbers. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers.
Ito, R., Robbins, T. W., & Everitt, B. J. (2004). Differential control over cocaine-seeking behavior by nucleus accumbens core and shell. Nature Neuroscience, 7, 389–397.
Kehagia, A. A., Cools, R., Barker, R. A., & Robbins, T. W. (2009). Switching between abstract rules reflects disease severity but not dopaminergic status in Parkinson’s disease. Neuropsychologia, 47, 1117–1127.
Lafayette (2007). ABET II. Lafayette, IN: Lafayette Instrument Company. Available at www.lafayetteinstrument.com.
Markham, M. R., Butt, A. E., & Dougher, M. J. (1996). A computer touch-screen apparatus for training visual discriminations in rats. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 173–182.
Med Associates (2004). Med-PC Version IV. St. Albans, VT: Med Associates (www.med-associates.com/software/medpc.htm).
Mui, R., Haselgrove, M., Pearce, J., & Heyes, C. (2008). Automatic imitation in budgerigars. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 275, 2547–2553.
Nagle, J. (1984). RFC896—Congestion control in IP/TCP Internetworks. Internet Engineering Task Force. Retrieved November 18, 2009, from www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0896.txt.
Palya, W. L., & Walter, D. E. (1993). A powerful, inexpensive experiment controller for IBM PC interface and experiment control language. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 25, 127–136.
Panlab (2004). PackWin. Barcelona, Spain, and Holliston, MA: Panlab S.L. Harvard Bioscience, Inc. Available at www.panlab.com.
Parkinson, J. A., Crofts, H. S., McGuigan, M., Tomic, D. L., Everitt, B. J., & Roberts, A. C. (2001). The role of the primate amygdala in conditioned reinforcement. Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 7770–7780.
Postel, J. (1981). RFC793—Transmission control protocol, DARPA Internet program, protocol specification. Information Sciences Institute/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0793.txt.
Ritchie, D. M., & Thompson, K. (1974). The UNIX time-sharing system. Communications of the ACM, 17, 365–375.
Robbins, T. W., James, M., Owen, A. M., Sahakian, B. J., McInnes, L., & Rabbitt, P. (1994). Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): A factor analytic study of a large sample of normal elderly volunteers. Dementia, 5, 266–281.
Roberts, A. C., Robbins, T. W., Everitt, B. J., & Muir, J. L. (1992). A specific form of cognitive rigidity following excitotoxic lesions of the basal forebrain in marmosets. Neuroscience, 47, 251–264.
Sahakian, B. J., & Owen, A. M. (1992). Computerized assessment in neuropsychiatry using CANTAB: Discussion paper. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 85, 399–402.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Stevens, W. R. (1998). UNIX network programming, Vol. 1. Networking APIs: Sockets and XTI. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stroustrup, B. (1986). The C++ programming language. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Tatham, T. A., & Zurn, K. R. (1989). The MED-PC experimental apparatus programming system. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 21, 294–302 [currently available from Med Associates Inc., St. Albans, VT: www.med-associates.com/software/medpc.htm].
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2002). 21 CFR 58.185 (Code of Federal Regulations Title 21: Food and Drugs; Chapter 1: Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Part 58: Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies). Available at www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/21 cfr58_02.html.
Vanderschuren, L. J., & Everitt, B. J. (2004). Drug seeking becomes compulsive after prolonged cocaine self-administration. Science, 305, 1017–1019.
Von Huben, S. N., Davis, S. A., Lay, C. C., Katner, S. N., Crean, R. D., & Taffe, M. A. (2006). Differential contributions of dopaminergic D1- and D2-like receptors to cognitive function in rhesus monkeys. Psychopharmacology, 188, 586–596.
Wirth, N. (1971). The programming language Pascal. Acta Informatica, 1, 35–63.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cardinal, R.N., Aitken, M.R.F. Whisker: A client—server high-performance multimedia research control system. Behavior Research Methods 42, 1059–1071 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.4.1059
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.4.1059