Choice in a variable environment: effects of unequal reinforcer distributions |
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| Authors: | Landon Jason Davison Michael Elliffe Douglas |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. j.landon@auckland.ac.nz |
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| Abstract: | Six pigeons were trained in a procedure in which sessions included seven unsignaled components, each offering two pecking keys, and each providing a potentially different reinforcer ratio between the two keys. Across conditions, various combinations of reinforcer ratios and reinforcer-magnitude ratios were used to create unequal reinforcer distributions between the two alternatives when averaged across a session. The results extended previous research using the same basic procedure that had included only reinforcer distributions symmetrical around 1:1. Data analyses suggested that the variables controlling choice operated at a number of levels: First, individual reinforcers had local effects on choice; second, sequences of successive reinforcers obtained at the same alternative (continuations) had cumulative effects; and, third, when these sequences themselves occurred with greater frequency, their effects further cumulated. A reinforcer obtained at the other alternative following a sequence of continuations (a discontinuation) had a large effect and apparently reset choice to levels approximating the sessional reinforcer ratio. |
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| Keywords: | concurrent schedules choice reinforcer‐ratio variation reinforcer sequences generalized matching key peck pigeons |
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