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THE ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE GENERALIZED MATCHING LAW
Author(s) -
Prelec Drazen
Publication year - 1984
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.1984.41-101
Subject(s) - matching law , generalization , law , homogeneity (statistics) , independence (probability theory) , power law , matching (statistics) , power function , reinforcement , function (biology) , computer science , mathematics , mathematical economics , statistics , psychology , mathematical analysis , social psychology , political science , evolutionary biology , biology
Allen (1981) derived the power‐function generalization of the matching law from a functional equation involving relative response rates on three concurrently available schedules of reinforcement. This paper defines the conditions (relative homogeneity and independence) under which a more general class of behavioral laws reduces to the power law. The proof also removes two deficiencies of Allen's result (discussed by Houston, 1982), which are, first, that his derivation produces a power law without a bias coefficient, and second, that it holds only for experiments with three or more concurrent schedules.