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Related Experiment Videos

Operant variability: evidence, functions, and theory.

Allen Neuringer1

  • 1Reed College, Portland, Oregon 97202, USA. allen.neuringer@reed.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|March 5, 2003
PubMed
Summary
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Behavioral variability, often seen as random, is actually an operant behavior controlled by reinforcement. Understanding these contingencies can help modify abnormal variability and explain complex actions.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Operant Conditioning
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Behavioral responses can be predictable or highly variable.
  • Unpredictability is often attributed to unknown controlling variables.
  • This review explores the role of reinforcement in behavioral variability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review research demonstrating that behavioral variability is an operant behavior.
  • To explain how discriminative stimuli and reinforcers control variability.
  • To discuss the implications of operant variability for learning, creativity, and psychopathology.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing research on operant conditioning and behavioral variability.
  • Analysis of reinforcement schedules and their effects on response variability.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of the relationship between reinforcement frequency and the choice to vary or repeat behavior.

    • Main Results:

    • The highest levels of behavioral variability are often reinforced.
    • Variability is controlled by discriminative stimuli and reinforcers, not just random chance.
    • Reinforcement contingencies lawfully govern the choice between varying and repeating responses.

    Conclusions:

    • Behavioral variability is an operant, lawfully controlled by reinforcement.
    • Understanding operant variability has implications for learning, problem-solving, and creativity.
    • Abnormal variability in conditions like autism and ADHD may be modifiable through reinforcement.