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ON THE FORM OF THE FORGETTING FUNCTION: THE EFFECTS OF ARITHMETIC AND LOGARITHMIC DISTRIBUTIONS OF DELAYS
Author(s) -
Sargisson Rebecca J.,
White K. Geoffrey
Publication year - 2003
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.2003.80-295
Subject(s) - forgetting , logarithm , arithmetic , generalization , interval (graph theory) , mathematics , set (abstract data type) , matching (statistics) , function (biology) , distribution (mathematics) , series (stratigraphy) , statistics , computer science , psychology , mathematical analysis , combinatorics , cognitive psychology , evolutionary biology , biology , programming language , paleontology
Forgetting functions with 18 delay intervals were generated for delayed matching‐to‐sample performance in pigeons. Delay interval variation was achieved by arranging five different sets of five delays across daily sessions. In different conditions, the delays were distributed in arithmetic or logarithmic series. There was no convincing evidence for different effects on discriminability of the distributions of different delays. The mean data were better fitted by some mathematical functions than by others, but the best‐fitting functions depended on the distribution of delays. In further conditions with a fixed set of five delays, discriminability was higher with a logarithmic distribution of delays than with an arithmetic distribution. This result is consistent with the treatment of the forgetting function in terms of generalization decrement.