Noncontingent reinforcement, alternative reinforcement, and the matching law: a laboratory demonstration

Basic researchers, but not most applied researchers, have assumed that the behavior-decelerating effects of noncontingent reinforcement result at least partly from adventitious reinforcement of competing behaviors. The literature contains only sketchy evidence of these effects because few noncontingent reinforcement studies measure alternative behaviors. A laboratory model is presented in which concurrent schedules of contingent reinforcement were used to establish a "target" and an "alternative" behavior. Imposing noncontingent reinforcement decreased target behavior rates and increased alternative behavior rates, outcomes that were well described by the standard quantitative account of alternative reinforcement, the generalized matching law. These results suggest that adventitious reinforcement of alternative behaviors can occur during noncontingent reinforcement interventions, although the range of conditions under which this occurs remains to be determined in future studies. As an adjunct to applied studies, laboratory models permit easy measurement of alternative behaviors and parametric manipulations needed to answer many research questions.     

Steps and pips in the history of the cumulative recorder

From its inception in the 1930s until very recent times, the cumulative recorder was the most widely used measurement instrument in the experimental analysis of behavior. It was an essential instrument in the discovery and analysis of schedules of reinforcement, providing the first real-time analysis of operant response rates and patterns. This review traces the evolution of the cumulative recorder from Skinner's early modified kymographs through various models developed by Skinner and his colleagues to its perfection in the 1950s, and then into the 1960s when it proliferated as different scientific instrument companies began marketing their own models of the cumulative recorder. With the rise of digital computers, the demise of the cumulative recorder as a scientific instrument was inevitable; however, the value of the cumulative record as a monitoring device to assess schedule control of behavior continues. The cumulative recorder remains, along with the operant conditioning chamber, an icon of Skinner's approach to psychology.     

Matching: its acquisition and generalization

Choice typically is studied by exposing organisms to concurrent variable-interval schedules in which not only responses controlled by stimuli on the key are acquired but also switching responses and likely other operants as well. In the present research, discriminated key-pecking responses in pigeons were first acquired using a multiple schedule that minimized the reinforcement of switching operants. Then, choice was assessed during concurrent-probe periods in which pairs of discriminative stimuli were presented concurrently. Upon initial exposure to concurrently presented stimuli, choice approximated exclusive preference for the alternative associated with the higher reinforcement frequency. Concurrent schedules were then implemented that gave increasingly greater opportunities for switching operants to be conditioned. As these operants were acquired, the relation of relative response frequency to relative reinforcement frequency converged toward a matching relation. An account of matching with concurrent schedules is proposed in which responding exclusively to the discriminative stimulus associated with the higher reinforcement frequency declines as the concurrent stimuli become more similar and other operants-notably switching-are acquired and generalize to stimuli from both alternatives. The concerted effect of these processes fosters an approximate matching relation in commonly used concurrent procedures.     

An evaluation of response cost in the treatment of inappropriate vocalizations maintained by automatic reinforcement

In the current study, we examined the utility of a procedure consisting of noncontingent reinforcement with and without response cost in the treatment of inappropriate vocalizations maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of examining the variables that contribute to the effectiveness of response cost as treatment for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement.     

Emotional effects of startling background music during reading news reports: The moderating influence of dispositional BIS and BAS sensitivities

We examined the moderating influence of dispositional behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivities on the relationship of startling background music with emotion-related subjective and physiological responses elicited during reading news reports, and with memory performance among 26 adult men and women. Physiological parameters measured were respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), electrodermal activity (EDA), and facial electromyography (EMG). The results showed that, among high BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as more interesting and elicited higher zygomatic EMG activity and RSA than news stories with non-startling music. Among low BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as less pleasant and more arousing and prompted higher EDA. No BIS-related effects or effects on memory were found. Startling background music may have adverse (e.g., negative arousal) or beneficial effects (e.g., a positive emotional state and stronger positive engagement) depending on dispositional BAS sensitivity of an individual. Actual or potential applications of this research include the personalization of media presentations when using modern media and communications technologies.     

Using response times to detect aberrant responses in computerized adaptive testing

A lognormal model for response times is used to check response times for aberrances in examinee behavior on computerized adaptive tests. Both classical procedures and Bayesian posterior predictive checks are presented. For a fixed examinee, responses and response times are independent; checks based on response times offer thus information independent of the results of checks on response patterns. Empirical examples of the use of classical and Bayesian checks for detecting two different types of aberrances in response times are presented. The detection rates for the Bayesian checks outperformed those for the classical checks, but at the cost of higher false-alarm rates. A guideline for the choice between the two types of checks is offered.This study received funding from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). The opinions and conclusions contained in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and position of LSAC. The authors are most indebted to Wim M. M. Tielen for his computational assistance and to the US Defense Manpower Data Center for the permission to use the ASVAB data set in the empirical examples.     

Effects of alternative reinforcement on human behavior: the source does matter

Competing theories regarding the effects of delivering periodic response-independent reinforcement (more accurately, response-independent points exchanged for money) on a baseline rate of behavior were evaluated in human subjects. Contiguity theory holds that these events decrease target responding because incompatible behavior is adventitiously strengthened when the point deliveries follow target behavior closely in time. Matching theory holds that response-independent points, like any other alternative reinforcer, should reduce target responding. On this view, temporal contiguity between target responding and response-independent point delivery is unimportant. In our experiment, four different responses (moving a joystick in four different directions) were reinforced with points exchangeable for money according to four independent variable-interval schedules. Different schedules of point delivery were then superimposed on these baselines. When all superimposed point deliveries occurred immediately after one of the four responses (the target response), time allocated to target responding increased. When the superimposed point deliveries could be delivered at any time, time allocated to target responding declined and other behavior increased. When superimposed points could never immediately follow target responses, time allocated to target responding decreased further and other behavior or pausing predominated. The findings underscore the contribution of temporal contiguity in the effects of response-independent deliveries of food, money, points, etc.     

A note on the equivalence of the graded response model and the sequential model

This paper concerns items that consist of several item steps to be responded to sequentially. The item scoreX is defined as the number of correct responses until the first failure. Samejima's graded response model states that each steph=1,...,m is characterized by a parameterb _h , and, for a subject with ability, Pr(Xh; )=F(–b _h ). Tutz's general sequential model associates with each step a parameterdh, and it states that Pr(Xh;)= _r ^=1h G(–d _r ). Tutz's (1991, 1997) conjectures that the models are equivalent if and only ifF(x)=G(x) is an extreme value distribution. This paper presents a proof for this conjecture.     

Resistance to change of operant variation and repetition

A multiple chained schedule was used to compare the relative resistance to change of variable and fixed four-peck response sequences in pigeons. In one terminal link, a response sequence produced food only if it occurred infrequently relative to 15 other response sequences (vary). In the other terminal link, a single response sequence produced food (repeat). Identical variable-interval schedules operated in the initial links. During baseline, lower response rates generally occurred in the vary initial link, and similar response and reinforcement rates occurred in each terminal link. Resistance of responding to prefeeding and three rates of response-independent food delivered during the intercomponent intervals then was compared between components. During each disruption condition, initial- and terminal-link response rates generally were more resistant in the vary component than in the repeat component. During the response-independent food conditions, terminal-link response rates were more resistant than initial-link response rates in each component, but this did not occur during prefeeding. Variation (in vary) and repetition (in repeat) both decreased during the response-independent food conditions in the respective components, but with relatively greater disruption in repeat. These results extend earlier findings demonstrating that operant variation is more resistant to disruption than is operant repetition and suggest that theories of response strength, such as behavioral momentum theory, must consider factors other than reinforcement rate. The implications of the results for understanding operant response classes are discussed.