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AN EQUATION FOR BEHAVIORAL CONTRAST
Author(s) -
Williams Ben A.,
Wixted John T.
Publication year - 1986
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.1986.45-47
Subject(s) - reinforcement , context (archaeology) , schedule , contrast (vision) , component (thermodynamics) , psychology , variance (accounting) , statistics , computer science , artificial intelligence , social psychology , mathematics , paleontology , physics , thermodynamics , accounting , business , biology , operating system
Pigeons were trained on a three‐component multiple schedule in which the rates of reinforcement in the various components were systematically varied. Response rates were described by an equation that posits that the response‐strengthening effects of reinforcement are inversely related to the context of reinforcement in which it occurs, and that the context is calculated as the weighted average of the various sources of reinforcement in the situation. The quality of fits was comparable to that found with previous quantitative analyses of concurrent schedules, especially for relative response rates, with over 90% of the variance accounted for in every case. As with previous research, reinforcements in the component that was to follow received greater weights in determining the context than did reinforcements in the preceding component.