A new device for the application of electrical shock

Abstract

A new apparatus has been developed for the simple. safe, and effective delivery of electric shock. It deliven a single-pulse high-voltage shock of very short duration. Both voltage and current are easily measured and the applied energy can be calculated. Constant energy applications depend less upon skin contact resistance than is the case with 600-V 60-Hz shockers.The electrical shocker described in this report overcomes most of the shortcomings of conventional 60-Hz shockers (Campbell & Teghtsoonian, 1958; Forbes & Bernstein, 1935; Kellog, 1941; Muenzinger & WaIz, 1932, 1934. The peak voltage is high enough to minimize high skin-eontact resistance. Monkeys in restraining chairs can be shocked through loose-fitting collars without shaving or application of conductive paste)This unit delivers one, and only one, pulse of very short duration, each time ground is applied to the operate stud. Accidental sticking of the relay has no other effect than to render the apparatus inoperative with the output remaining at zero volts. Accidental contact with the output by the operator, although not recommended, does not cause prolonged muscular contraction, as is the case with 6D-Hz shockers. The single shock is of very short duration and it is impossible to apply continuous shock, as could be done in the case of a cattle prod, to which this device is somewhat related. Figure 1 shows a schematic circuit diagram of the shocker. A capacitor is charged to 28 V de through a 27-ohm resistor and the normally closed contacts of the relay. This readies the shocker. The time required for the capacitor to reach near asymptotic charge level is roughly five times the time constant C x 27 ohms. With C equal to 50 mF, this time equals approximately 7 msec. When a ground pulse is applied to the operate input, the relay is activated and the capacitor is discharged into the primary of an automobile spark coil. This coil is a transformer with a turns ratio of about I :200. The output pulse amplitude is therefore about 2 V x 200 =5600 V peak.The pulse duration is about 4 msec. To avoid multiple output pulses due to relay bounce, a relay with mercury-wetted contacts should be used.The energy applied with each shock is constant, provided both the capacitor and the charging voltage are constant. The energy stored in the capacitor is calculated by E =(CV 2)/2, where E is the stored energy in joules or wattseconds, C the value of the capacitor in farads and V the charging voltage in volts. By connecting several capacitors to a multipole switch, one can choose the correct value of energy required to produce the desired shock level.Reasonable care should be taken in connecting the high-voltage output to the grids, collar, or other electrode. Only high-voltage 184J

Relationships between luminance and visual acuity in the rhesus monkey

“…This shock was obtained from the secondary of a high-tension coil by discharging a capacitor into the primary, and was annoying but not highly painful as the authors can testify from experience. Swinnen, Brady & Powell (1969) conclude that because of its short duration this type of shock is safer for rhesus than conventional electric shock. To discourage the rhesus from responding indiscriminately to all rings, every third lever press, while a gapless ring was projected, was also followed by a shock.…”

Cardiovascular Responses to Avoidance Conditioning in the Dog: Effects of Beta Adrenergic Blockade

“…Illumination of the response key provided a visual stimulus for performance discrimination. Electrical shock, generated from a constantcurrent source (12), was administered through stainless-steel electrodes taped to a shaved portion of the dog's rear leg. Sound masking and temperature control were provided by a blower and exhaust system mounted on the roof of the chamber.…”

Second‐order Optional Avoidance as a Function of Fixed‐ratio Requirements

“…Two male rhesus monkeys, 3 yr old at the start of the experiment, and each weighing approximately 5 kg, were maintained in primate restraining chairs (Mason, 1958) (MARCH) 180 mA for 1 msec was delivered through the neck plate and seat of the restraining chair using a constant current source as described by Swinnen, Brady, and Powell (1969 During Session 16, the baseline avoidance performance was integrated into the 24-hr recycling program illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1.…”