IN SEARCH OF THE FEEDBACK FUNCTION FOR VARIABLE‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES
- 1 May 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
- Vol. 57 (3), 365-375
- https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1992.57-365
Abstract
Finding a theoretically sound feedback function for variable‐interval schedules remains an important unsolved problem. It is important because interval schedules model a significant feature of the world: the dependence of reinforcement on factors beyond the organism's control. The problem remains unsolved because no feedback function yet proposed satisfies all the theoretical and empirical requirements. Previous suggestions that succeed in fitting data fail theoretically because they violate a newly recognized theoretical requirement: The slope of the function must approach or equal 1.0 at the origin. A function is presented that satisfies all requirements but lacks any theoretical justification. This function and two suggested by Prelec and Herrnstein (1978) and Nevin and Baum (1980) are evaluated against several sets of data. All three fitted the data well. The success of the two theoretically incorrect functions raises an empirical puzzle: Low rates of reinforcement are coupled with response rates that seem anomalously high. It remains to be discovered what this reflects about the temporal patterning of operant behavior at low reinforcement rates. A theoretically and empirically correct function derived from basic assumptions about operant behavior also remains to be discovered.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Quantitative Prediction and Molar Description of the EnvironmentThe Behavior Analyst, 1989
- CHOICE IN TRANSITION: A COMPARISON OF MELIORATION AND THE KINETIC MODELJournal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1988
- THE LINEAR SYSTEM THEORY'S ACCOUNT OF BEHAVIOR MAINTAINED BY VARIABLE‐RATIO SCHEDULESJournal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1988
- OPTIMIZATION AND THE MATCHING LAW AS ACCOUNTS OF INSTRUMENTAL BEHAVIORJournal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1981
- Melioration and Behavioral AllocationPublished by Elsevier ,1980
- A MULTIVARIATE RATE EQUATION FOR VARIABLE‐INTERVAL PERFORMANCEJournal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1979
- TIME‐BASED AND COUNT‐BASED MEASUREMENT OF PREFERENCE1Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1976
- Concurrent schedule responding as a function of body weightLearning & Behavior, 1975
- THE CORRELATION‐BASED LAW OF EFFECT1Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1973
- INTERRESPONSE TIME AS A FUNCTION OF CONTINUOUS VARIABLES: A NEW METHOD AND SOME DATA1Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1963