Preference and Switching under Ratio Contingencies with Humans

Abstract

Preference was studied by permitting human Ss to make switching responses which controlled the programming of components of various two-component multiple-ratio schedules. The results show that humans prefer (switch to) components with the smaller ratio requirement and the greater amount of reinforcement per occurrence of reinforcement under FR contingencies. No differential preference was observed when the multiple-ratio schedule consisted of FR and VR components equated for ratio requirement and reinforcement amount.