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MATCHING AND CONTRAST ON SEVERAL CONCURRENT TREADLE‐PRESS SCHEDULES
Author(s) -
McSweeney Frances K.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1975.23-193
Subject(s) - reinforcement , matching law , schedule , psychology , contrast (vision) , component (thermodynamics) , statistics , computer science , social psychology , artificial intelligence , mathematics , physics , thermodynamics , operating system
Four White King pigeons pressed treadles for food reinforcement on several concurrent variable‐interval variable‐interval schedules. The rate of reinforcement available for responding in one of the two component schedules was held constant at 30 reinforcers per hour. The rate of reinforcement available for responding in the other was varied from 120 to 60 to 15, and then to 30 reinforcers per hour. The relative rate of responding in each component schedule equalled the relative rate of reinforcement that the component provided. And, behavioral contrast, defined as an inverse relationship between the rate of responding in the constant component and the rate of reinforcement obtained by responding in the other component, occurred for all schedules.