Savastano H I, Fantino E
Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0109.
J Exp Anal Behav. 1994 May;61(3):453-63. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1994.61-453.
Seven undergraduates participated in a concurrent-choice experiment with monetary reinforcers. Response-independent analogues of variable-interval and variable-ratio schedules were used to assess whether subjects would maximize reinforcement rate. The optimal pattern of behavior, in terms of maximizing reinforcement rate, involved a large bias toward the ratio alternative, with only occasional sampling of the interval schedule. Most experiments with pigeons, however, demonstrate matching of response rates to reinforcement rates, with only slight biases for the ratio schedule. Although subjects in the present experiment allocated more time to the ratio alternative than required by matching, the magnitude of the bias did not approximate that predicted by a maximizing account. After exposure to clock stimuli correlated with the operation of each schedule, 1 subject's behavior did show a substantial level of bias, increasing the total number of reinforcers obtained, and lay at a point between the predictions of matching and maximizing. The other subjects, however, continued to respond less optimally. The present results can be accounted for by a view of matching that incorporates the effects of delayed reinforcement.
七名本科生参与了一项使用金钱强化物的同时选择实验。采用可变间隔和可变比率时间表的反应独立模拟来评估受试者是否会使强化率最大化。就最大化强化率而言，最优行为模式是对比率选项有较大偏向，仅偶尔对间隔时间表进行抽样。然而，大多数用鸽子进行的实验表明反应率与强化率相匹配，对比率时间表只有轻微偏向。尽管本实验中的受试者对比率选项分配的时间比匹配所需的更多，但偏向的程度并未接近最大化理论所预测的程度。在接触与每个时间表操作相关的时钟刺激后，一名受试者的行为确实表现出相当程度的偏向，增加了获得的强化物总数，且处于匹配和最大化预测之间的某个点。然而，其他受试者的反应仍然不太理想。目前的结果可以通过一种包含延迟强化效应的匹配观点来解释。
