An operant counting scale for children: A preliminary methodological psychoactive-drug case study.

This pilot study is the first attempt at objective measurement of well-defined molecular behaviors through covert field observation. Though the main thrust is the development of a methodology for the clinical investigation of drug effects on children, a method that minimizes or overcomes many of the special problems that have plagued child drug research in the past, some preliminary data on the behavioral effects of haloperidol and imipramine were obtained. The technique developed is called an operant counting scale, and it promises to be useful in future full-drug studies.