differential amplifier

an electrical device that amplifies the voltage difference between two input leads. In neural research, potential changes may be as small as 1 μV, and electrical resistances and sources of interference may be greater than the voltages being studied. Thus, complex electronic equipment, such as a differential amplifier, is required.

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Psychology term of the day

January 31st 2025

cellular automata

computer programs used in the study of artificial life. Typically, a display is used on a computer screen, split into an array of cells, with an initial pattern of occupied cells. The pattern evolves through a sequence of steps according to certain rules (e.g., whether or not certain numbers of neighboring cells are occupied). Programs of this type have been used in investigations of such phenomena as social behavior and evolutionary development. [developed in the 1940s by Austrian-born U.S. mathematician John von Neumann (1903–1957)]