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Human free-operant performance varies with a concurrent task: Probability learning without a task, and

Phil Reed1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK. p.reed@swansea.ac.uk.

Learning & Behavior
|January 4, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human responding on schedules of reinforcement differs when a concurrent task is present, mirroring nonhuman patterns. Without concurrent tasks, human performance relies on the feedback function between responding and reinforcement rates.

Keywords:
Bout-initiationHumansProbability learningResponse rateSchedules of reinforcementWithin-bout responding

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral psychology
  • Operant conditioning

Background:

  • Human performance on schedules of reinforcement can differ significantly from nonhuman patterns.
  • Understanding these differences is crucial for behavioral psychology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate human response rates and patterns under various reinforcement schedules.
  • To compare human performance with and without a concurrent task.
  • To identify distinct strategies in human operant responding.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted using different schedules of reinforcement (ratio and interval).
  • Human participants completed tasks with and without a concurrent task.
  • Response rates, bout-initiation, and within-bout responses were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Concurrent tasks led to human performance resembling nonhuman patterns.
  • Response rates varied based on schedule parameters (ratio size, interval length).
  • Bout-initiation responses were more sensitive to reinforcement rates than within-bout responses.

Conclusions:

  • Human responding on free-operant schedules may involve two strategies: mechanistic (bout-initiation) and explicit (within-bout).
  • Concurrent tasks elicit more mechanistic responding.
  • Absence of concurrent tasks allows explicit strategies to dominate, influenced by the feedback function.