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The matching law.

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

|May 1, 1972

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The matching law can be disproven as an empirical finding or accepted as a definition of reinforcer utility. Failure to match suggests issues with variable scaling or experimental design, potentially requiring law revisions.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral psychology
Reinforcement theory

Background:

The matching law describes response allocation in concurrent schedules of reinforcement.
It can be interpreted as an empirical generalization or a definitional component of utility.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the theoretical implications of the matching law.
To examine conditions under which the matching law may fail or require revision.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of the matching law's role in defining utility.
Discussion of empirical failures and their interpretation.

Main Results:

The matching law is tautologous if used to define utility, making it unfalsifiable within that context.
Deviations from matching often indicate improper scaling of independent variables.

Conclusions:

Failures to obtain matching may necessitate reinterpreting or revising the matching law.
Alternative definitions of utility may supersede the theoretical matching law.