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Four-alternative choice violates the constant-ratio rule.

Douglas Elliffe¹, Michael Davison

¹The University of Auckland, New Zealand. d.elliffe@auckland.ac.nz

Behavioural Processes

|November 28, 2009

Summary

Pigeons

Area of Science:

Behavioral science
Animal behavior studies
Operant conditioning research

Background:

The matching law is a prominent theory in behavioral economics explaining choice behavior.
This law posits that response rates match reinforcer rates, assuming constant ratios.
Previous research has primarily focused on stable or slowly changing reinforcement schedules.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate pigeon behavior under rapidly changing reinforcement schedules.
To test the predictions of the matching law against observed choice patterns.
To explore alternative models, like contingency discriminability, in explaining choice behavior.

Main Methods:

Six pigeons were trained on a four-key concurrent variable-interval schedule.

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The distribution of reinforcers among keys changed dynamically.

Reinforcer ratios were adjusted every 10 reinforcements, creating rapid changes.

Main Results:

Pigeon behavior adapted to the changing reinforcer ratios.
Choice preference was influenced by both relative and absolute reinforcer rates, challenging the matching law's constant-ratio rule.
Reinforcers elicited transient increases in responding (preference pulses), even from leaner schedules or later in components.

Conclusions:

Organismal choice behavior is more complex than the simple matching law suggests, especially under dynamic conditions.
A contingency-discriminability model may better explain deviations from the matching law.
Behavioral control is exerted by both extended and local reinforcement histories, with transient effects playing a significant role.