controlstick,bymeansofwhichtheplatformcanbereturned
toahorizontalposition.Oncemonkeyshavebeentrainedto
do this, they are subjected to radiation and to chemical
warfareagents,toseehowtheseaffecttheirabilitytofly.(A
photograph of the Primate Equilibrium Platform appears
following page 157.)
ThestandardtrainingprocedureforthePEPisdescribedina
Brooks Air Force Base publication entitled “Training
ProcedureforPrimateEquilibriumPlatform.”^1 Thefollowing
is a summary:
PhaseI(chairadaptation):Themonkeysare“restrained”(in
otherwords,tieddown)inthePEPchairforonehourperday
for five days, until they sit quietly.
PhaseII(stickadaptation):Themonkeysarerestrainedinthe
PEPchair.Thechairisthentippedforwardandthemonkeys
aregivenelectricshocks.Thiscausesthemonkeyto“turnin
thechairorbitetheplatform....Thisbehaviorisredirected
toward the [experimenter’s] gloved hand which is placed
directlyoverthecontrolstick.”Touchingthehandresultsin
theshockbeingstopped,andthemonkey(whohasnotbeen
fedthatday)isgivenaraisin.Thishappenstoeachmonkey
one hundred times a day for between five and eight days.
Phase III(stickmanipulation): This timewhen thePEP is
tippedforward, merelytouching thestickisnot enoughto
stop the electric shock. The monkeys continue to receive
electricshocksuntiltheypullthestickback.Thisisrepeated
one hundred times per day.