Do You Slouch? Well, A Shock Can Fix You

The first in the Summer School lecture series brought a tantalizing glimpse of the future to 75 people yesterday in air-conditioned Emerson Hall.

Got a problem with slouching? Nathan H. Arzin told the audience he has a mechanical way to fix it.

A slouching individual is fitted with a sensitive belt around his back which measures the distance between his shoulder blades. If that distance exceeds a proscribed limit, the contraption rewards the individual with a slight buzzing sensation in his shoulders to remind him to straighten up.

Azrin, a researcher at Southern Illinois University, also described methods of buzzing patients out of bedwetting and stuttering. He explained that behavioral conditioning seeks to correct behavior and does not place emphasis on behavioral causes, as does traditional analysis.