Premium
PREFERENCE FOR FIXED‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES: EFFECTS OF UNEQUAL INITIAL LINKS
Author(s) -
Davison M. C.
Publication year - 1976
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.1976.25-371
Subject(s) - logarithm , constant (computer programming) , schedule , interval (graph theory) , terminal (telecommunication) , statistics , mathematics , preference , function (biology) , computer science , combinatorics , telecommunications , mathematical analysis , programming language , operating system , evolutionary biology , biology
Six homing pigeons were trained on concurrent chain schedules in which the terminal links were fixed‐interval schedules of 5 sec or 15 sec. One initial‐link schedule was always VI 27‐sec; the other was varied over conditions from VI 27‐sec to VI 181‐sec. Preference measured in the initial links varied as a joint function of the initial‐ and terminal‐link schedules. When the initial links were varied with constant, but unequal, terminal links, the slope of the function relating the logarithm of the initial‐link response ratio to the logarithm of the terminal‐link entry ratio differed from that obtained with equal terminal links. This result indicates that biases attributable to the terminal‐link schedules were not constant. The rate of change of preference, or degree of undermatching, in the initial links depended on whether the shorter initial link led to the shorter or the longer terminal link. These results raise the question of whether bias and undermatching in concurrent schedule performance are independent measures.