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CONSERVATION, CHOICE, AND THE CONCURRENT FIXED‐RATIO SCHEDULE
Author(s) -
Shapiro Neil,
Allison James
Publication year - 1978
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.1978.29-211
Subject(s) - lever , licking , component (thermodynamics) , statistics , schedule , preference , computer science , duration (music) , mathematics , contingency , engineering , medicine , mechanical engineering , art , linguistics , physics , philosophy , literature , pharmacology , thermodynamics , operating system
Five rats got all of their water in daily 60‐minute sessions. Two levers and a water spout were freely available throughout baseline sessions. Contingency sessions offered a choice between two alternative fixed‐ratio components, in the form of a choice between the two levers. Each component required a specified number of lever presses for access to the spout, and then a specified number of licks for another choice between components. Given the observed relative frequency, the absolute frequency of selecting each component was predicted accurately by assuming that the subject conserved between baseline and contingency the total amount of a dimension attributable to lever pressing and licking. Several quantitative models for predicting relative frequency were examined. The best of these assumed that the subject would show a nonexclusive preference for the component requiring fewer lever presses.