<aside> 📔 Domjan Chapter 6 pp165-169

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Study Questions

Choice Behavior: Concurrent Schedules

• Lots of different activities, all with different reinforcers
• Simplest choice situation: 2 response alternatives, each followed by their own reinforcer
• Skinner boxes with pecking keys for pigeon

<aside> 👉 Concurrent schedule: continuous measurement of choice because organism is free to change back and forth between the response alternatives at any point

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Pigeon free to switch from one key to the other key

Ex: slot machines, TV channels, talking to someone at a party

Figure 6.4 shows a diagram of a concurrent schedule for pigeons. Pecks on left reinforced according to VI schedule every 60 secs, pecks on right are reinforced according to FR schedule every 10 pecks

Measures of Choice Behavior

• Concurrent schedule is reflected in distribution of its behavior between the two response alternatives

• Relative rate of responding:

• $B_L=$ pecking behavior on the left

• $B_R=$ pecking behavior on the right

• If pigeon pecks equally, on both response keys, ratio will be .5

• L > R, ratio > .5

• L < R, ratio < .5

• Relative rate of reinforcement:

• $r_L =$ rate of reinforcement on the left

• $r_R =$ rate of reinforcement on the right

The Matching Law

<aside> 💡 The relative rates of responding match relative rates of reinforcement

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• The relative rate of responding is equal to the relative rate of reinforcement