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FALSIFICATION OF MATCHING THEORY: CHANGES IN THE ASYMPTOTE OF HERRNSTEIN'S HYPERBOLA AS A FUNCTION OF WATER DEPRIVATION
Author(s) -
McDowell J. J.,
Dallery Jesse
Publication year - 1999
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.1999.72-251
Subject(s) - hyperbola , asymptote , matching law , reinforcement , interval (graph theory) , matching (statistics) , constant (computer programming) , function (biology) , psychology , statistics , mathematics , geometry , computer science , social psychology , combinatorics , biology , evolutionary biology , programming language
Five rats pressed levers on variable‐interval schedules of water reinforcement at various levels of water deprivation. In one phase of the experiment, three deprivation conditions that replicated conditions in Heyman and Monaghan (1987) were arranged, along with three less extreme deprivation conditions. In a second phase, water deprivation was arranged so that subjects were exposed to a greater range of access to water per day. Herrnstein's hyperbola described the rats' response‐rate data well. The y asymptote, k , of the hyperbola appeared roughly constant over the conditions that replicated those of Heyman and Monaghan, but decreased markedly when less extreme deprivation conditions were included. In addition, k varied systematically when the second method of arranging deprivation was used. These results falsify a strong form of matching theory and confirm predictions made by linear system theory.