The history of the teaching machine often focuses on two devices – or rather, on two psychologists who invented them: Sidney Pressey and B. F. Skinner. The story of these mechanical devices is told often as simply the prelude to computer-assisted instruction. “Computers are now much better teaching machines,” Skinner himself admitted in Science in 1989 (although he added that most of CAI does it wrong).

As I plan to focus on the mechanical teaching machines, not the later digital ones, I thought I’d write down a longer list of devices and start to collect images, pricing, description. (I have created a separate page here on this website which I will update as my research continues.)

This initial list is drawn from “A Survey of Auto-Instructional Devices” written by Felix Kopstein and Isabel Shillestad of the USAF’s Aeronautical Systems Division and published in September 1961. The categories for these machines are theirs: Skinner’s, Pressey’s, Norman Crowder’s, and Gordon Pask’s formats. They too end their survey with a look at the computer as a teaching machine.

Kopstein and Shillestad note that their list is not exhaustive, and I think there are some that I might add (and perhaps some I might remove) as I move forward on this book project. (I do feel duty-bound, as a Spencer fellow, to include Lyle Spencer’s SRA cards.)

Skinner Machines

Disk Machine

• Date: 1954
• Originator: B. F. Skinner
• (Not commercially available)

Foringer Teaching Machine No. 2002

• Date: 1959
• Originator and Manufacturer: Foringer & Co
• Cost: $80

Didak 501 Automated Instruction Device

• Date: 1959–60
• Originator and Manufacturer: Rheem-Califone Corporation
• Cost: $157

Auto-Scanner

• Date: 1960
• Originator: A. Ugelow, Behavioral Sciences Laboratory
• (Not commercially available)

Porter Device

• Date: 1957
• Originator: D. Porter, Harvard University
• Manufacturer: Foringer & Co
• Cost: $80

Min-Max Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: D. E. Cornell
• Manufacturer: Teaching Machines Inc
• Cost: $20

Program Scanner

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Earlham College Self-Instruction Project
• Manufacturer: Dyna-Slide Company
• Cost: $39.50

Visitutor Card Model

• Date: 1960
• Originator: W. Rozmus, Hamilon Research Associates Inc and Blythe, Godcharles and Jacobson, Hamiliton College
• Manufacturer: Hamilton Research Associates Inc
• Cost: $100

Multiple Sensory Stimulation Trainer (US Navy Device X11H20)

• Date: 1960
• Originator: R. S. Bushnell, US Naval Training Device Center
• (Not commercially available)

Sequential Integrated Block Teaching Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: J. Gilpin, Bell Telephone Laboratories
• (Not commercially available)

Visible Card File

• Date: 1959
• Originator: R. M. Gagne, Princeton University
• Cost: $1.65

Programmed Text

• Date: 1958
• Originator: L. E. Homme and R. Glaser
• Manufacturer: Teaching Machines Inc
• Cost: $5-$15

Wyckoff Film Tutor

• Date: 1959
• Originator: B. Wyckoff, Emory University
• Manufacturer: Teaching Machines Inc
• Cost: $445

Visitutor Film Model

• Date: 1959
• Originator: Blythe, Jacobson, and Godcharles, Hamilton College
• Manufacturer: Hamilton Research Associates
• Cost: Unknown

Auditutor

• Date: 1960
• Originator: R. Hedderick, Hamilton Research Associates and Blythe, Jacobson, and Godcharles, Hamilton College
• Manufacturer: Hamilton Research Associates
• Cost: Unknown

Arithmetic Machine

• Date: 1954
• Originator: B. F. Skinner
• (Not commercially available)

Arithmachine No. 1

• Date: Unknown
• Originator: D. Zeaman, University of Connecticut
• (Not commercially available)

Arithmachine No. 2

• Date: 1958
• Originator: B. F. Skinner, S. Orlando, and D. Zeaman
• (Not commercially available)

Sakoda’s Sortcard Automatic Tutor

• Date: 1959
• Originator: M. Sakoda, University of Connecticut
• Manufacturer: Scientific Prototype Manufacturing Corp
• Cost: $285

Devereux Teaching Aid - Model 90

• Date: 1960
• Originator: E. A. Smith, Devereux School
• Manufacturer: Smith-Harrison Inc
• Cost: $49.50

Pressey Machines

Self-Scoring Multiple-Choice Device

• Date: 1924
• Originator: Sidney Pressey
• (Not commercially available)

Multiple-Choice Response Device

• Date: 1927
• Originator: Sidney Pressey
• (Not commercially available)

Automatic Teacher

• Date: 1932
• Originator: Sidney Pressey
• Manufacturer: Welch Manufacturing
• Cost: $35

Drum Tutor

• Date: 1945
• Originator: Sidney Pressey and the US Navy Special Devices Center
• (Not commercially available)

Atronic Tutor - Model 680

• Date: 1959
• Originator and Manufacturer: General Atronics Corporation
• Cost: $150

Tester-Rater Self-Tutoring Punchboard Device

• Date: 1959
• Originator: Sidney Pressey
• Manufacturer: US Printing and Novelty Company

IBM Punch-Card Self-Teaching Device

• Date: 1958
• Originator: Sidney Pressey and C. Willey
• Manufacturer: IBM
• Cost: Unknown

Devereux Teaching Aid - Model 15

• Date: 1960
• Originator: E. A. Smith, Devereux School
• Manufacturer: Smith-Harrison Inc
• Cost: $15

Devereux Teaching Aid - Model 50

• Date: 1960
• Originator: E. A. Smith, Devereux School
• Manufacturer: All American Engineering
• Cost: $90

Devereux Teaching Aid - Model 80

• Date: 1960
• Originator: E. A. Smith, Devereux School
• Manufacturer: Smith-Harrison Inc
• Cost: $110

Subject-Matter Trainer

• Date: 1955
• Originator: G. C. Besnard and L. J. Briggs, US Air Force
• (Not commercially available)

Card-Sorting Device

• Date: 1958
• Originator: L. J. Briggs, US Air Force
• (Not commercially available)

Sequential Programmed Electronic Education Device (SPEED)

• Date: 1958
• Originator: Arthur Y. Baker
• Manufacturer: Education Engineering Assoc
• Cost: $400–850

Osler-Foringer Discrimination Device No. 1231

• Date: Unknown
• Originator: Sonia Osler
• Manufacturer: Foringer & Co
• Cost: $850–1300

Audiovisumatic Teaching Device

• Date: 1958
• Originator: K. U. Smith, University of Wisconsin
• Manufacturer: Unknown
• Cost: $300

Crowder Technique

Western Design Autotutor Mark I

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Norman Crowder
• Manufacturer: Western Design and Electronic Company, US Industries Inc
• Cost: $3000-$5000

Western Design Autotutor Mark II

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Norman Crowder
• Manufacturer: Western Design and Electronic Company, US Industries Inc
• Cost: $1100

Scrambled Text

• Date: 1968
• Originator: Norman Crowder
• Publisher: Doubleday & Co
• Cost: $3.95

Multipurpose Instructional Problem Storage Device (MIPS)

• Date: 1955
• Originator: L. J. Briggs, US Airforce and E. S. Walker Hughes Aircraft Company
• (Not commercially available)

Self Organizing Systems

Solartron Automatic Keyboard Instructor (SAKI)

• Date: 1958
• Originator: Gordon Pask
• Manufacturer: Rheem-Califone Corporation
• Cost: $3000

Eucrates

• Date: 1956
• Originator: Gordon Pask
• Manufacturer: Solartron Electronic Group
• Cost: $15,000-$20,000

Audio-Visual Machines

Automatic-Loading Daylight 16mm Sound Film Viewer (Handy-Dandy)

• Date: 1956
• Originator and Manufacturer: Polan Industries
• Cost: $4000

Automatic Stepwise Tape Recorder (ASTR)

• Date: 1958
• Originator: J. B. Gilpin, Earlham College
• Cost: $750

Carroll Audio-Visual Auto-Instructional Device

• Date: 1960
• Originator: J. B. Carroll, Harvard University
• (Not commercially available)

A Microfilm Device

• Date: 1961
• Originator: D. J. Klaus and A. A. Lumsdaine, American Institute for Research
• (Not commercially available)

Videosonic Teaching Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Hughes Aircraft Company
• (Not commercially available)

Lear Operational Assistance and Instructive Data Equipment

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Lear Inc
• (Not commercially available)

The T–3 Educator

• Date: 1961
• Originator and Manufacturer: All American Engineering Company
• Cost: Unknown

Digital Computers as Teaching Machines

IBM 650 Teaching Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: G. Rath, N. Anderson, and R. Brainerd, IBM Research Center
• (Not commercially available)

G–15 Computer Teaching Machine

• Date: 1959
• Originator: J. Coulson and H. Silberman, System Development Corporation
• (Not commercially available)

RCA Teaching Machine Research Facility

• Date: 1959–60
• Originator: E. Gavurin, RCA Teaching Machine Research Facility
• (Not commercially available)

Adaptive Teaching Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Applied Research Laboratory, University of Arizona
• (Not commercially available)

LGP–30 Computer Teaching Machine

• Date: 1960
• Originator: Bolt, Beranek, and Newman Inc
• (Not commercially available)

Miscellaneous

Prototype Instructor-Free Package Course

• Date: 1954
• Originator: F. Kopstein, J. Cook, W. Potter, and H. Shettel, Air Force Personnel Training Research Center
• (Not commercially available)

Generalized Electronic Troube-Shooting Trainer (GETS)

• Date: 1956
• Originator: N. Warren, D. Atkins, J. Ford, and H. Wolberts, Psychological Services Inc
• (Not commercially available)

Optimal Sequence Trainer (OST)

• Date: 1957–1959
• Originator: H. LaPorte and D. Schuster, University of Southern California
• (Not commercially available)

Malfunction and Circuitry Trainer (MAC Trainer)

• Date: 1956
• Originator: R. French and L. Martin, US Air Force
• (Not commercially available)

Polymath

• Date: 1957
• Originator: E. Z. Rothkopf, Air Force Personnel Training Research Center
• (Not commercially available)

Trainer Tester

• Date: 1954
• Originator and Manufacturer: Van Valkenburgh, Nooger and Neville Inc
• Cost: Unknown

Air-OAO Device

• Date: 1960
• Originator: H. Shettel and A. A. Lumsdaine, American Institute for Research
• (Not commercially available)

Didak 101 Pre-Verbal Machine

• Date: 1959
• Originator and Manufacturer: Rheem-Califone Corporation
• Cost: Unknown

Self-Correcting Exercises

• Date: 1959
• Originator: P. B. Diederich, Educational Testing Service
• (Not commercially available)

(If you have any more information about these devices – including photographs – or if you know of any others that should be included, please let me know.)

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