Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior最新文献

Blakemore, E. T., & Morris, S. L. (2025). Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics’ predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 124(3), Article e70065. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70065

The title was published as: Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamic's predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules

It should have been: Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics’ predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules

This has been corrected in the article. We apologize for the error.

The law of effect, originally proposed by E. L. Thorndike in a book that was published in 1911, had a major influence on the development of studies of instrumental or operant conditioning in the twentieth century. It remains a core concept in psychology and is invariably covered in undergraduate and graduate courses. Thorndike's law of effect also remains a topic of inquiry in contemporary efforts to understand the nature of habitual responses as contrasted with goal-directed behavior. The mechanisms of the law of effect continue to be studied by behavioral and social psychologists as well as neuroscientists. However, many statements of the law of effect deviate in significant ways from Thorndike's original formulation. The present article reviews the history of Thorndike's law of effect and traces how the law has been, and continues to be, misrepresented. The hope is that familiarity with common misrepresentations of the law of effect will encourage greater consistency and clarity in discussions of the law and better appreciation of its role in contemporary research.

Increasing cybercrime rates means identifying potential victims is critically important. Social discounting tasks show that individuals share less personally identifying information as social distance increases. However, the test–retest reliability and uniqueness of this measure is unclear. The current study assessed social discounting for personally identifying information (SDPII), delay discounting, risk taking, and personality at two measurement waves 30 days apart for 64 undergraduate students. Test–retest reliability was statistically significant for the SDPII and all other measures, replicating previous studies. SDPII rates were not significantly correlated with other measures during both measurement waves, showing discriminant validity. SDPII rates were lower than those reported in a previous study but were still well described by a hyperbolic discounting function, suggesting replicability across studies. The high test–retest reliability, uniqueness, and replicability of the SDPII suggests that it may quantitatively identify cybercrime victimization. Future research should test which measure or combination of measures can accurately predict scam and cybercrime victimization to inform data-based interventions.

This experiment was designed to examine the question of how different force-exertion requirements in effect prior to extinction affect force exertion during extinction of the previously reinforced response, with an emphasis on such effects early in extinction. Human participants were exposed to one of three conditions in which making a force-exertion response resulted in points displayed on a computer screen. In two conditions, the response-force requirement was fixed during the reinforcement phase at a force exertion of either 50%–65% or 100%–125% of the force criterion exerted in a pretest. During the third condition, the force-exertion criterion was decreased progressively from 100%–125% to 50%–65% of the force criterion during the reinforcement phase. After a short adjustment period, response-force exertions generally conformed to the force requirements for reinforcement. Removing the opportunity for reinforcement reduced the number of responses relative to those occurring in the reinforcement phase, although some responding was still occurring for most participants at the end of the extinction phase. The results are discussed in relation to the variables responsible for the extinction of a force-defined response, emphasizing changes in force early in extinction.

Choice in concurrent schedules is organized in visits to each alternative, and the duration of these visits is exponentially distributed. A model of changeover behavior based on this fact successfully described changeover behavior in two large data sets from published experiments, but some limitations were apparent in this analysis, seemingly reflecting an effect of the passage of time on the data across the lengthy experiments. This article describes an experiment that exposed rats to a dynamic concurrent variable-interval procedure designed to address these limitations. One of 35 possible combinations of overall and relative reinforcement rates was chosen pseudorandomly at the beginning of each session without signaling the specific combination in effect. By allowing the sensitivity parameter in the generalized matching law to be a function of the overall reinforcement rate, the model provided a satisfactory description of the results. This modification includes free parameters that presumably reflect the effects of how discriminable the alternatives are and how costly it is to switch between them, increasing the scope of the matching law. The updated model holds promise as the foundation for a general theory of performance in concurrent schedules of reinforcement.

The evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics (ETBD) has predicted that under concurrent random-ratio (RR) schedules, preference for the denser schedule becomes more extreme with (a) larger differences between the concurrent ratio requirements and (b) smaller absolute values of the ratio requirement for the denser alternative. In this study, we tested ETBD's predictions by evaluating human participants' choice under various concurrent RR schedules. Sixty-three undergraduate students participated and were presented with two concurrently available response options on a touchscreen monitor. The difference between the concurrently available ratio requirements was manipulated across conditions, and the absolute value of the ratio requirement for the denser alternative was manipulated across groups. As predicted by the ETBD, participants' preference for the denser alternative increased as the difference between the concurrent ratio requirements increased and groups with smaller absolute ratio requirements tended to display more extreme preference. However, a high level of heterogeneity was observed across human participants within each group that was not evident in the behavior of artificial organisms animated by the ETBD. Our findings demonstrate the importance of focusing on individual behavior and suggest directions for future research investigating choice under concurrent ratio schedules and evaluating the ETBD.

Behavioral contrast and resurgence emerge following worsening of conditions of alternative reinforcement. In this experiment, the effects of stimuli correlated with nonreinforcement during extinction were compared with respect to their effects in generating resurgence and contrast within individual pigeons. Four pigeons were exposed to a two-key concurrent schedule in which a target response arranged a variable-interval (VI) 60-s schedule and an alternative response key arranged a two-component multiple VI 60-s VI 60-s schedule. In the resurgence preparation, target responding was extinguished after training before extinguishing the alternative. In the contrast preparation, both components of the multiple schedule were associated with extinction, whereas target responding was still reinforced. In both, one of the two multiple schedule stimuli was replaced by a darkened keylight. When the key associated with the alternative component was on during extinction, there was less resurgence and the magnitude of contrast was less than when the key was dark. The results replicated earlier findings of the effects of the presence or absence of stimuli on resurgence and contrast but under conditions allowing direct comparisons within individual subjects. The results both suggest a functional similarity between behavioral phenomena labeled resurgence and contrast and invite a search for other similarities.

In research on variables that influence bidirectional naming, measurement of bidirectional naming often involves exposing children to pairs of verbal and visual stimuli, followed by testing of listener behavior and tacts. We administered a bidirectional naming assessment, modeled after an assessment procedure described in previous studies, to 12 younger adults (18 to 25 years) and 12 older adults (67 years and older). Visual patterns were paired with nonsense words, and listener behavior and tacts were tested after a 2-hr delay. The assessment classified one participant in the younger group and no participants in the older group as meeting criteria for incidental bidirectional naming and only four additional participants (all in the younger group) as meeting criteria for unidirectional naming. Although adults should theoretically be expected to demonstrate advanced bidirectional naming, the assessment procedure failed to capture this repertoire. The results suggest that below-criterion performance in bidirectional naming assessment may in some cases be an artifact of assessment, instead of suggesting a bidirectional naming repertoire has not been acquired. These findings have implications for measuring bidirectional naming and interpreting assessment outcomes.

When responding to a stimulus exerting overselective control over behavior is extinguished, control by underselected stimuli may emerge. We investigated how the degree of extinction influences control by underselected stimuli. Adult humans (N = 459) chose between rapidly presented compound S+ and S− stimuli in a simultaneous discrimination. Then, participants chose between individual compound-stimulus elements in an unreinforced testing phase. The S+ element that was chosen most often underwent revaluation, during which choice of that element was reinforced with a probability ranging from 0 (complete extinction) to 1 no extinction) in different groups. In post-revaluation retesting, choice of the overselected element was lower than in pre-revaluation testing; this decrease was greater when the overselected element had been reinforced with a lower probability during revaluation. For the underselected element, choice decreased when the overselected element was completely extinguished and increased when the overselected element was sometimes or always reinforced. This highlights the role of the contingency change in post-revaluation changes in stimulus control. Our findings are consistent with comparator theories of overselectivity and suggest that control by underselected stimuli may emerge after partial extinction of an overselected stimulus. Future studies should establish the generality of these findings with clinical populations displaying overselectivity.

Conceptual learning is discrimination between new examples and nonexamples and generalization to new examples. Conceptual learning can be demonstrated after practice with differential reinforcement of the correct response and is influenced by procedural variables during practice. However, less research has been done identifying an ideal structure for instruction (rules), which is likely a typical teaching format for learners with more advanced verbal repertoires. We developed a laboratory analog of conceptual instruction to evaluate conceptual learning following instruction made up of a rule describing the key features of the concept and examples and nonexamples that were carefully selected to demonstrate these rules. We also evaluated the efficacy of this instruction when it preceded or followed practice with feedback about accuracy but no rule presentation. All participants completed instruction and practice. The specific instructional sequence was completed before practice during Experiment 1 and after practice during Experiment 2. This instructional sequence reliably and rapidly resulted in concept learning regardless of whether it was completed before or after practice. Practice alone never produced conceptual learning within the duration of the session and was not necessary to produce conceptual learning. Instructors should evaluate the efficacy of this instructional sequence to teach concepts.