Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Reinforcement Schedules01:24

Reinforcement Schedules

Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for teaching new behaviors to both animals and humans. B.F. Skinner demonstrated this with his experiments using rats in a Skinner box. When a rat pressed a lever, it received a food pellet. This immediate reward encouraged the rat to repeat the behavior. This method, where a reward follows every instance of the behavior, is known as continuous reinforcement. It is highly effective for establishing new behaviors quickly.
Once a behavior is learned,...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Effects of methamphetamine on signalled probability in rats using concurrent chains.

Psychopharmacology·2026
Same author

Environmental Associations of Body Disposal in New Zealand Homicides.

International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology·2026
Same author

Effects of methamphetamine on delay discounting in rats using concurrent chains.

Learning & behavior·2024
Same author

The effect of interstimulus interval on sustained attention.

Behavioural processes·2024
Same author

Non-symbolic estimation of big and small ratios with accurate and noisy feedback.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2024
Same author

Perceptual addition of continuous magnitudes in an 'artificial algebra'.

Cognition·2023
Same journal

The Genoeconomics of Impulsive Intertemporal Choice: A Critical Review.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same journal

Shaping the extinction burst: Increasing its probability and preventing its emergence across topographies.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same journal

Evaluating the combined effects of effort and probability on monetary discounting.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same journal

An improved translational approach to studying persistence-strengthening effects of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same journal

Interactions between the effects of food and water motivating operations on concurrent food- and water-reinforced responding in mice.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same journal

Odor-visual and visual-visual matching to sample with dogs.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 25, 2026

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
08:36

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments

Published on: August 8, 2019

Response strength in extreme multiple schedules.

Anthony P McLean1, Randolph C Grace, John A Nevin

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. anthony.mclean@canterbury.ac.nz

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|January 31, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study on pigeon behavior found that response ratios do not always linearly match reinforcer ratios, challenging the generalized matching law. Resistance to change also varied non-linearly with reinforcer ratios.

Keywords:
keypeckmatching lawmultiple schedulespigeonsreinforcer rateresponse rate

More Related Videos

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats
09:12

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Published on: March 17, 2019

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents
09:43

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

Published on: August 10, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 25, 2026

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
08:36

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments

Published on: August 8, 2019

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats
09:12

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Published on: March 17, 2019

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents
09:43

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

Published on: August 10, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral psychology
  • Animal behavior studies
  • Reinforcement learning

Background:

  • The generalized matching law predicts a linear relationship between response and reinforcer ratios.
  • Previous studies have explored this relationship over limited ranges of reinforcer ratios.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate pigeon behavior under a wider range of reinforcer ratios than previously studied.
  • To assess the validity of the generalized matching law and alternative models.
  • To examine resistance to change in relation to reinforcer ratios.

Main Methods:

  • Four pigeons were trained on two-component multiple schedules with random-interval reinforcement.
  • The ratio of reinforcer rates between components was systematically varied over 4 log units.
  • Prefeeding tests were used to measure resistance to change at each reinforcer ratio.

Main Results:

  • Response ratios were not a linear function of reinforcer ratios across the full range, indicating a failure of parameter invariance.
  • Undermatching was observed over a 2 log unit range, while approximate matching occurred at extreme reinforcer ratios.
  • Resistance to change also showed a non-linear relationship with reinforcer ratios.

Conclusions:

  • The generalized matching law may not fully account for behavior across wide ranges of reinforcer ratios.
  • A model proposed by McLean (1991) better predicted sensitivity to reinforcer ratios than other models.
  • Resistance to change appears influenced by both reinforcement rate and the reinforcer-to-response ratio.