The Experimental Analysis of Behavior Research Papers

A Review of Domestic Dogs' (Canis Familiaris) HumanLike Behaviors: Or Why Behavior Analysts Should Stop Worrying and Love Their Dogs

by Monique Udell

2008, Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Dogs likely were the first animals to be domesticated and as such have shared a common environment with humans for over ten thousand years. Only recently, however, has this species' behavior been subject to scientific scrutiny. Most of... more

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Cooperation came first: Evolution and human cognition

by Steven Hayes

2014, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Contextual behavioral perspectives on learning and behavior reside under the umbrella of evolution science. In this paper we briefly review current developments in evolution science that bear on learning and behavior, concluding that... more

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Incentive theory: II. Models for choice

by Peter Killeen

1982, Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Incentive theory is extended to account for concurrent chained schedules of reinforcement. The basic model consists of additive contributions from the primary and secondary efects of reinforcers, which serve to direct the behavior... more

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Effects of an acceptance/defusion intervention on experimentally induced generalized avoidance: A laboratory demonstration

by Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas

2014, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

This study tests the effectiveness of an acceptance/defusion intervention in reducing experimentally induced generalized avoidance. After the formation of two 6-member equivalence classes, 23 participants underwent differential... more

Fig. 2. Percentage of participants that achieved the different experimental criteria in each phase (conditiona discrimination training and equivalence criteria, and respondent/avoidance conditioning and transfer). The first half of the upper panel (Phases 1, 2 and 3) includes all participants in the MOT and DEF conditions before allocation to each protocol The second half (Phases 4, 5 and 6) of the upper panel only includes MOT participants. The middle panel includes DEI participants after allocation (Phases 4, 5, and 6). The post-hoc control condition (CMOT) is depicted in the bottom graph

Results for participants in the MOT and DEF conditions

Results for participants in the CMOT condition. See Table 1 for description of data formatting.

Fig. 1. Schematic depiction of the procedural phases.

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What is Radical Behaviorism? A Review of Jay Moore's Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism

by William M Baum

2011, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

B. F. Skinner founded both radical behaviorism and behavior analysis. His founding innovations included: a versatile preparation for studying behavior; explicating the generic nature of stimulus and response; a pragmatic criterion for... more

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Epicurus and B. F. Skinner: In search of the good life

by Walter Englert

2016, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

This paper examines similarities in the works of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher, and B. F. Skinner, a behavioral psychologist. They both were empiricists who argued in favor of the lawfulness of behavior while maintaining that... more

Fig. 1. A comparison, across B. F. Skinner’s entire pro- fessional career, of the cumulative numbers of publica- tions based on experimental studies versus those that were more theoretical, including analyses, interpretations and extensions. Data were obtained from Morris & N. G. Smith, 1993; and N.G. Smith & Morris, 2014 http://bfskin ner.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SmithMorrisBiblio graphy.pdf de wri These positions represented Skinner’s eply held views—not simply fiction. He ote in his autobiography that Walden Two enabled him to say things he believed, but could not otherwise write. His utopian novel re presented, more generally, a turn from basic laboratory research to real-world extensions (S kinner, 1969a). Figure | highlights this tran- sition. Shown separately are the cumulative number of publications describing his original ex periments as compared with those in which he extends operant findings to interpretations of real-world situations. The "extending" papers contained no new data, but

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Delay discounting and the use of mindful attention versus distraction in the treatment of drug addiction: A conceptual review

by Melinda Ashe and

2015, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior

In recent decades, researchers have integrated measurements of delay discounting, how the subjective valuation of a reward changes as a function of time, into their study of addiction. Research has begun to explore the idea that delay... more

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TOKEN REINFORCEMENT: A REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

by Tim Hackenberg

Token reinforcement procedures and concepts are reviewed and discussed in relation to general principles of behavior. The paper is divided into four main parts. Part I reviews and discusses previous research on token systems in relation... more

Fig. 2. Photograph of intelligence panel and diagram (side view) of token receptacle used in Malagodi’s research with rats as subjects and marbles as tokens. See text for details. From Malagodi (1967a). Reprinted with permission.

Fig. 4. Token-production and exchange-production response rates as a function of FR token-production ratio (left panels) and exchange-production ratio (right panels) of 4 pigeons across the final five sessions of each condition. Note that the graphs in left and right panels are derived from the same data, plotted differently to highlight the impact of token-production and exchange-production ratios. Different symbols represent different ratio sizes for the exchange-production ratios (left panels) and token-production ratios (right panels). Unconnected points represent data from replicated conditions; error bars represent standard deviations. From Bullock & Hackenberg (2006). Copyright 2006, by the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Fig. 3. Representative cumulative records for rats exposed to token-reinforcement schedules. Left panels: VI 1-min token-production schedules. Right panels: FR 20 token-production schedules. Pips indicate token deliveries. Exchange-production and token-exchange schedules (la- beled deposit in the figure) were both FR 1. From Malagodi (1967a). Reprinted with permission.

Fig. 5. Token-production response rates of 3 pigeons as a function of exchange-ratio size and schedule type: FR (open circles) and VR (closed circles) over the final five sessions of each condition. Unconnected points denote data from replicated conditions. Error bars indicate the range of values contributing to the means. From Foster, Hackenberg, & Vaidya (2001). Copyright, 2001 by the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Fig. 6. Representative cumulative records for one rat exposed to FR 20 token-production schedules as a function of exchange-production schedules: FI 1.5 min (top), FI 4.5 min (middle) and FI 9 min (bottom). Token deliveries are indicated by pips, exchange periods by resets of the response pen. From Waddell, Leander, Webbe, & Malagodi (1972). Reprinted with permission.

Fig. 9. Response rates and standard deviations in baseline (hatched bars) and loss (filled bars) conditions, expressed as a percentage of rates in the no-loss component within the same session, for 4 pigeons across the final five sessions of each condition. The labels TL and YF represent data from Token-Loss and Yoked-Food

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Responding by exclusion in temporal discrimination tasks

by Armando Machado

2014, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Psychology, consists of choosing an undefined comparison stimulus given an undefined sample, when the comparison stimulus is presented next to other experimentally defined stimuli. The goal of the present study was to determine whether... more

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Learning to Time: A Perspective

by Armando Machado

2009, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

In the last decades, researchers have proposed a large number of theoretical models of timing. These models make different assumptions concerning how animals learn to time events and how such learning is represented in memory. However,... more

Fig. 1. The left panels show the structure of SET. A pacemaker generates pulses which are added in an accumulator and stored at the end of the to-be-timed interval in one or more long-term memories. To decide when to respond, the animal compares the number currently in the accumulator with samples extracted from the memories. In FI schedules (top left) only one memory is formed; in the bisection procedure (bottom left) two memories are formed. The right panels show the structure of LeT. After a time marker, a set of states (top circles) is activated in series. The states may be coupled to various degrees (associative links) with one or more operant responses (bottom circles). The strength of each response is determined by the dot product between the vectors of state activation and coupling. In FI schedules (top right) only one vector of couplings is formed; in the bisection procedure (bottom right) two vectors are formed.

Fig. 2. A double bisection task is a conditional dis- crimination in which the animal learns two mappings, {S1, S4j}—{Red, Green} on ‘“‘Short’’ trials, and {S4, S;¢}—>{Blue, Yellow} on ‘“‘Long”’ trials. The subscripts indicate the sample duration; the arrow indicates that the first and second responses in each pair are correct following the first and second samples, respectively.

Fig. 4. The left and middle panels show the predic- tions of SET and LeT, respectively, for the test trials of two groups exposed to a double bisection task. Both groups learned the mapping {S;, S4}-{Red, Green} on ‘‘Short”’ trials, but, on “‘Long”’ trials, Group 8 learned the mapping {S4, Sg}-{Blue, Yellow}, whereas Group 16 learned the mapping {S4, Sj¢}—>{Blue, Yellow}. The right panels show the data from Machado & Pata (2005).

Fig. 5. The top panels show the predictions of LeT for Groups Consistent and Inconsistent. Each curve shows the probability of choosing Green over Blue as a function of sample duration. The number on each curve identifies the session for which the curve applies (e.g., curve 0 = immediately after double bisection training, curve 1 = after one session with the new discrimination training, etc.). The bottom panels show the data from Machado & Arantes (2006). Choices following the 1-s and 16-s samples were reinforced provided they were correct, but choices following the 2-, 4- and 8-s samples were not reinforced. Green was correct following the 16-s samples for Group Consistent and the 1-s samples for Group Inconsistent.

Fig. 6. Psychometric functions obtained with the Free Operant Psychophysical Procedure—pecks to one key, say L, are reinforced (according to one or more VIs) only during the first half of the trial, and pecks to the other key, R, are reinforced (also according to one or more VIs) only during the second half of the trial. In the top panels, when the overall reinforcement rate favored the L key (first one of the two VI schedules), the psychometric function shifted to the right; when it favored the R key (last one of the two VI schedules), it shifted to the left. The middle panels show that when the overall reinforcement rates differ, the psychometric function shifts only if the local reinforcement rates differ around the middle of the trial; the bottom right panels show that when the overall reinforcement rates are equal, the functions shift provided the local reinforcement rates differ in the middle of the trial. The data are from Bizo & White (1995a) (top left panel) and Machado & Guilhardi (2000) (remaining panels). The curves show the fit of the LeT model.

Fig. 7. Average data from one pigeon exposed to a mixed FI 30s—-FI 120s schedule (points) and the fit of the LeT model (curve). Data from Catania & Reynolds (1968).

Fig. 10. Model output for two mixed-FI schedules, mixed FI 15s-FI 120s and mixed FI 30s-FI 240s. Panel A: distribution of W(n). The smooth lines plot approximate closed-form solutions derived in the Appendix. Panel B: response distribution for one stat-pigeon during the last trial. Panel C: average response rate. The smooth curves plot the approximations derived in the Appendix. Panel D: the scalar property.

Fig. 11. Model output for the temporal bisection task. Panel A: distribution of the associative links after training with the simple bisection task {S4, S;¢}{Red, Green}. The filled and empty circles show the associative links with the Red and Green responses, respectively. Panel B: psycho- metric functions plotting the probability of choosing “Short”’ during test trials in four simple bisection tasks. From left to right, the training sample durations were 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 8, 4 vs. 16, and 8 vs. 32. Panel C: the scalar property with bisection at the geometric mean in the four simple bisection tasks. Panel D: results from the tests with novel key pairings after training on the double bisection task {S}, S4}-{Red, Green} and {S4, S;¢}—{Blue, Yellow}. Simulation details: training sessions comprised 400 trials with each sample; the generalization sessions comprised 64 trials for each test sample plus 384 trials for each training sample; in the double bisection task, the test sessions with the novel key pairings comprised 64 test trials for each test sample and 3200 trials for each training sample.

Fig. 12. Model predictions for the temporal general- ization task (see Eq. 22 in the Appendix). Top panels: Generalization gradients when the reinforced signal was 4- s long and the nonreinforced signals were spaced linearly or logarithmically for a shorter (A) or longer (D) range. Middle panels: the reinforced signal was 2-, 4-, or 8-s long; the right panel shows the scalar property. Bottom left panel: effect of changing the reinforcement probability following the 4s, target signal. Bottom right panel: effect of changing the probability of presenting the 4-s, target signal on each trial.

Fig. Al. The top panel shows two samples paths of N(t), the active state at time t, in an FI T = 15 s. The activation speed 4 came from a Gaussian distribution with mean t= | and standard deviation c= 0.2. When A= 0.8, the last active (and reinforced) state, N(T), equalled 13; when A= 1.2, N(T) = 19. The bottom panel illustrates, for n = 12, how q(n,T), p(n,T) and r(n,T) relate to the Gaussian density function for A. respectively, with t = 0 andn = 1, @... State dynamics, N(t). On each trial, the states are activated serially, starting with state | at trial onset. The states are activated at a rate of 1 states per second, with A> 0 a Gaussian random variable with mean pt and standard deviation o. We represent by N(x, pt, o) the density function, and by ®(x, pt, o) the distribution function, of that Gaussian variable evaluated at x. Sn a a ee ee ae

Similarities and differences between SET and LeT. and a more complex decision rule (see bottom right panel of Figure 1; Machado, 1997). The states become active at sample onset, the time marker, and each state is now coupled with two responses. The strength of the link connecting state n with response r, W,(n), changes only after the animal chooses. If the choice response is reinforced, the links between the states and that response increase, whereas the links be- tween the states and the other response decrease, always in proportion to each state’s activation. Conversely, if the choice response is extinguished, the links between the states and that response decrease, whereas the links between the states and the other response increase. In other words, the model assumes that, in bisection tasks, when the link between a state and one response changes, the link between the same state and the other response also changes, albeit in the opposite direction. Hence, the model’s learning rule implements a strong form of response competition’. —< = oe Green will be weak—hence the preference for Red after short samples. However, after the 4-s samples, later states will be the most active and because of the reinforcement contingencies their link with Red will be weak whereas their ink with Green will be strong—hence the preference for Green after the long samples. LeT predicts that preference for Red decreases as sample duration ranges from 1 to 4s. Moreover, it also predicts (see Machado, 997) a PSE close to, but slightly greater than, the geometric mean of the training stimuli and, when A is proportional to the overall reinforcement rate during the trials, that psychometric functions obtained with samples holding the same ratio will superimpose when plotted on a common axis.

Note. ‘‘Early’’, ‘“Middle’”’ and ‘‘Late”’ represent the states most active after 1-, 4, and 16-s samples, respectively. Initially, all links equal 0.5. The arrows show the effects of training in the double discrimination {S;, S4} — {Red, Green} and {S4, S;¢6} — {Blue, Yellow}. Strength of the links (W) between the states and the choice responses.

Learning rules in the bisection task. corresponding peaks. The scalar property holds in two ways. First, the two average rate curves overlap when plotted in relative time (panel D—scalar property across mixed-FIs). And second, although not shown in the figure, the two ascending limbs of each response rate curve also overlap when plotted in relative time (scalar property within a mixed-FI).

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Background activities, induction, and behavioral allocation in operant performance

by Michael Davison and

2014, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior

In experiments on operant behavior, other activities, called "background" activities, compete with the operant activities. Herrnstein's (1970) formulation of the matching law included background reinforcers in the form of a... more

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Stimulus Equivalence: Testing Sidman's (2000) Theory

by Douglas Elliffe

2006, Journal of the …

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The Behavioral Pharmacology of Effort-related Choice Behavior: Dopamine, Adenosine and Beyond

by Marta Pardo

2012, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

For many years, it has been suggested that drugs that interfere with dopamine (DA) transmission alter the ''rewarding'' impact of primary reinforcers such as food. Research and theory related to the functions of mesolimbic DA are... more

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From molecular to molar: a paradigm shift in behavior analysis

by William M Baum

2002, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

A paradigm clash is occurring within behavior analysis. In the older paradigm, the molecular view, behavior consists of momentary or discrete responses that constitute instances of classes. Variation in response rate reflects variation in... more

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Transformation of the Discriminative and Eliciting Functions of Generalized Relational Stimuli

by Brandi Fink

2007, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

In three experiments, match-to-sample procedures were used with undergraduates to establish arbitrary relational functions for three abstract visual stimuli. In the presence of samples A, B, and C, participants were trained to select the... more

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A functional-analytic model of analogy: a relational frame analysis

by Bryan Roche

2002, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The aim of this study was to explore a behavior-analytic model of analogical reasoning, defined as the discrimination of formal similarity via equivalence-equivalence responding. In Experiment 1, adult humans were trained and tested for... more

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Changing delay discounting in the light of the competing neurobehavioral decision systems theory: a review

by Mikhail Koffarnus and

2013, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior

Excessively devaluing delayed reinforcers co-occurs with a wide variety of clinical conditions such as drug dependence, obesity, and excessive gambling. If excessive delay discounting is a trans-disease process that underlies the choice... more

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Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior Increases Resistance to Extinction: Clinical Demonstration, Animal Modeling, and Clinical Test of One Solution

by Benjamin Mauro

2010, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Basic research with pigeons on behavioral momentum suggests that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) can increase the resistance of target behavior to change. This finding suggests that clinical applications of DRA... more

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Associative concept learning, stimulus equivalence, and relational frame theory: working out the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman behavior

by Sean Hughes

2014, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior

In their review article Zentall et al. propose that nonhumans can come to relate stimuli based on their physical properties (perceptual concept learning) or the relationship established between or among physically related stimuli... more

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REALISM WITHOUT TRUTH: A REVIEW OF GIERES SCIENCE WITHOUT LAWS AND SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVISM

by Tim Hackenberg

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Pigeons' discrimination of paintings by Monet and Picasso

by Masumi Wakita

1995, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Pigeons successfully learned to discriminate color slides of paintings by Monet and Picasso. Following this training, they discriminated novel paintings by Monet and Picasso that had never been presented during the discrimination... more

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Effects of a Meaningful, a Discriminative, and a Meaningless Stimulus on Equivalence Class Formation

by Lanny Fields and

2012, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Thirty college students attempted to form three 3-node 5-member equivalence classes under the simultaneous protocol. After concurrent training of AB, BC, CD, and DE relations, all probes used to assess the emergence of symmetrical,... more

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Equivalence Relations, Contextual Control, and Naming

by Bob Remington

2006, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

This paper reports two experiments that investigated the role of verbal behavior in the emergence and generalization of contextually controlled equivalence classes. During both experiments, participants were trained with two different... more

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Delay Discounting: I'm a k, You're a k

by Amy Odum

2011, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Fig. 1. Indifference points as a function of delay for an individual nonsmoking participant (NS1) and a smoking participant (SM1) for hypothetical money (NS1 & SM1) and hypothetical cigarettes (SM1). These participants were the first smoker and nonsmoker tested in a study by Bickel, Odum, and Madden (1999), who reported median data across groups. See Bickel et al. for details of the procedure. Lines show the best fit of Equation 1 to the data using GraphPad Prism®.

Goodness of fit (R®) for Equation 1 (the hyperbolic model) and Equation 2 (the exponential model) for the data shown in Figure 1.

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A transformation of respondently conditioned stimulus function in accordance with arbitrarily applicable relations

by Bryan Roche

1997, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Adult male subjects saw a sexual film clip paired with a nonsense syllable (C1). Similarly, an emotionally neutral film clip was paired with a second nonsense syllable (C3). Responses to the nonsense syllables were recorded as skin... more

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Associative concept learning in animals

by Edward P Wasserman

2014, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Nonhuman animals show evidence for three types of concept learning: perceptual or similarity-based in which objects/stimuli are categorized based on physical similarity; relational in which one object/stimulus is categorized relative to... more

Fig. 1. Transfer of training for individual pigeons demonstrating the class consistent responding developed during many- to-one training (adapted from Urcuioli, Zentall, Jackson-Smith, & Steirn, 1989).

when a delay was inserted between the sample and comparison stimuli. Typically, hue-sample reten- tion functions for pigeons are generally much shallower than line-sample retention functions (i.e., as the delay increases, matching accuracy is better maintained when the samples are hues) (Farthing, Wagner, Gilmour, & Waxman, 1977; Urcuioli et al., 1989; Wasserman, Bhatt, Chatlosh, & Kiedinger, 1987; Zentall, Urcuioli, Jagielo, Jackson-Smith, 1989). However, the correspond- ing hue-sample and line-sample retention func- tions following MTO training are quite similar (i.e., they have comparable slopes) (see Fig. 2; Urcuioli et al., 1989, Experiment 1; Zentall etal., 1989), a result consistent with the hypothesis that samples associated with a common compari- son stimulus are commonly represented. Fig. 2. Retention functions following matching training in which hue samples and line-orientation samples were associated with different comparisons (one-to-one matching) or common comparisons (many-to-one matching) (adapted from Zentall, Urcuioli, Jagielo, & Jackson-Smith, 1989).

Fig. 3. Following many-to-one matching training pigeons were transferred to a successive discrimination in which responding to samples associated with the same comparison stimulus during training were either both reinforced or not reinforced (consistent) or responding to one sample was reinforced but not the other (inconsistent) (adapted from Kaiser, Sherburne, Steirn, & Zentall, 1997). Note. R=red, G=green, V=three vertical black lines, H=three horizontal black lines, C=a line-drawn circle, D=a 2mm dot. All lines and shapes were projected on a black background. For each trial type the first letter represents the sample and the second the correct compari- son. The transfer test for Group Consistent consisted of simple successive discrimination in which the samples presumed to represent one stimulus class were discriminated from the samples presumed to represent the other stimulus class. The transfer test for Group Inconsistent consisted of a similar simple successive discrimination but one sample from each presumed stimulus class had to be discriminated from the other sample in its presumed class.

Fig. 4. Following many-to-one matching training, sample-comparison associations were reversed for only the hue samples, only the line samples, or for all of the samples (adapted from Zentall, Sherburne, Steirn, Randall, Roper, & Urcuioli, 1992).

Fig. 5. Retention functions following many-to-one matching training in which red and food samples were associated with choice of a vertical-line comparison and green and no-food samples were associated with choice of a horizontal-line comparison (adapted from Zentall, Sherburne, & Urcuioli, 1995).

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Note. R=red, G=green, V= three vertical white lines, H=three horizontal white lines, C=a white line-drawn circle, D =a white dot. All lines and shapes were projected on a black background. For each trial type, the first letter represents the sample and the second the correct compari- son. In Test, samples from Original Training that were not presented in Interim training were presented with the comparisons from Interim Training. Delayed matching tests. _ Evidence consistent with the development of common n representations +11 Again, what specific “cue” (cf. Miller & Dollard, 1941) could be the basis of these emergent stimulus relations? Urcuioli et al. (1989), working within the animal memory literature, suggested that pigeons had commonly represented or “coded” (cf. Lawrence, 1963) samples that were associated with the same comparison stimulus. In general terms, MTO training altered the way in which the organisms implicitly responded to those samples. To test this hypothesis, Zentall, Urcuioli, and their associates conducted a series of experiments to obtain convergent evidence regarding the existence and nature of such common representation(s).

two basic categories into one broader category that was not defined by any obvious perceptual features. In the first step of the experiment, by reinforcing responding to two different keys, pigeons were trained to sort slides into two arbitrary conjoint categories, such as the conjoint category of cars and people and the conjoint category of chairs and flowers (there were 12 exemplars in each of the four basic- level categories). In the second step of the experiment, the pigeons were trained to make a new response to only one stimulus class in each conjoint category. For example, some birds were trained to peck one new key when a car appeared and to peck another new key when a flower appeared. In the third step involving pecks to the two new keys, the pigeons were tested with slides from all four stimulus classes to see whether the conjoint categories that they had learned in the first step would influence their response to the stimulus classes that had been withheld in the second step (see Bhatt & Wasserman, 1989 for related research into the role of perceptual resemblance in similar reassignment training and testing). Would the birds peck the new key to which cars had been reassigned when a person appeared? Would they peck the new key to which flowers had been reassigned when a chair appeared? The average score was 87% correct in the case

Note. R=red, G= green, V=vertical lines, H = horizon- tal lines, C = circle, D = dot. “c” and “d” represent circle and dot mediating responses, respectively, to the samples (R, G, V & H). — represents associations formed during Original Training. => represents associations formed during Interim Training. Thus, in Testing, V and H will elicit mediating responses “c” and “d” and transfer of training should result.

Note. R=red, G=green, V=vertical lines, H = horizon- tal lines, C= circle, D= dot. “r’, “g”, “v’, and “h” represent red, green, vertical, and horizonval mediating responses, respectively, to the samples (C and D). Dashes (-) represent associations formed during Phase 1. Double dashes (=) represent associations formed during Phase 2. Dashes (-) represent associations formed during Phase 1. Double dashes (=) represent associations formed during Phase 2. Stimuli in parentheses represent the actual comparison stimuli in Phase 3. Thus, in Testing, B and W will elicit mediating responses “r” and “g” rather than “v” and “h” and transfer of training should not result.

Note. R=red, G= green, V=vertical lines, H = horizon- tal lines, C= circle, D = dot. “r’, “g”, represent red and green mediating responses, respectively, to the samples (R and G, and V and H). — represents associations formed during original training. => represents associations formed during interim training. Thus, in testing, V and H will elicit mediating responses “r” and “g” and transfer of training should result.

Note. All successive presentations were followed by food. For matching-to-sample the first stimulus represents the sample, the second stimulus the correct comparison. The incorrect comparison is presented in parentheses. All stimuli were counterbalanced.

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Experimental manipulations of delay discounting & related processes: an introduction to the special issue

by Amy Odum

2015, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior

Fig. 1. Number of delay discounting articles published per year. Source: PubMed. & Logue, 1978; Schweitzer & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1988) & Logue, 1978; Schweitzer & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1988)

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Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior Increases Resistance to Extinction: Clinical Demonstration, Animal Modeling, and Clinical Test of One Solution

by Jennifer McComas

2010, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Basic research with pigeons on behavioral momentum suggests that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) can increase the resistance of target behavior to change. This finding suggests that clinical applications of DRA... more

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Teaching arbitrary matching via sample stimulus-control shaping to young children and mentally retarded individuals: a methodological note

by Ronald Lazar

1992, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Two experiments demonstrated the efficacy of sample stimulus-control shaping programs for teaching arbitrary matching to 4 subjects who did not acquire the performances via standard methods (i.e., differential reinforcement and, in two... more

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The Interaction of Temporal Generalization Gradients Predicts the Context Effect

by Armando Machado

2012, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

In a temporal double bisection task, animals learn two discriminations. In the presence of Red and Green keys, responses to Red are reinforced after 1-s samples and responses to Green are reinforced after 4-s samples; in the presence of... more

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Concurrent schedules: Discriminating reinforcer-ratio reversals at a fixed time after the previous reinforcer

by Michael Davison

2013, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Six pigeons worked on concurrent exponential variable-interval schedules in which the relative frequency of food deliveries for responding on the two alternatives reversed at a fixed time after each food delivery. Across conditions, the... more

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Stimulus effects on concurrent performance in transition

by Elenice S Hanna and

1992, Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Six experimentally naive pigeons were exposed to concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules in a three-key procedure in which food reinforcement followed pecks on the side keys and pecks on the center key served as... more

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ERRORLESS LEARNING OF A CONDITIONAL TEMPORAL DISCRIMINATION

by Armando Machado

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Operant conditioning of behavioral variability using a percentile reinforcement schedule.

by Armando Machado

1989, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of behavior

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Effects of predictability and competition on group and individual choice in a free-ranging foraging environment

by Tim Hackenberg

2014, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The present study examined the social foraging of rats in an open arena. The relative quantity of food varied across two food sources, or "patches." Five food quantity ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:8, 8:1, 2:1) were presented in a series of 30-min... more

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STIMULUS EFFECTS ON LOCAL PREFERENCE: STIMULUS–RESPONSE CONTINGENCIES, STIMULUS–FOOD PAIRING, AND STIMULUS–FOOD CORRELATION

by Michael Davison and

2010, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Four pigeons were trained in a procedure in which concurrent-schedule food ratios changed unpredictably across seven unsignaled components after 10 food deliveries. Additional green-key stimulus presentations also occurred on the two... more

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Functional classes and equivalence relations

by russell maguire

1989, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Three adult subjects were taught a set of two-choice simultaneous discriminations, with three positive and three negative stimuli; all possible combinations of positive and negative stimuli yielded nine different pairs. The... more

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Preference for a Stimulus that Follows a Relatively Aversive Event: Contrast or Delay Reduction?

by Rebecca Singer

2007, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Several types of contrast effects have been identified including incentive contrast, anticipatory contrast, and behavioral contrast. proposed a type of contrast that appears to be different from these others and called it within-trial... more

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Delayed reinforcement and fixed-ratio performance

by David Jarmolowicz

2013, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Effects of delayed reinforcement on fixed-ratio (FR) maintained responding of pigeons were investigated. In Experiments 1-3, the delay of reinforcement was increased across successive sessions until pigeons paused for 300 s. Both signaled... more

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Derived stimulus relations, semantic priming, and event-related potentials: Testing a behavioral theory of semantic networks

by Sean Commins

2005

Derived equivalence relations, it has been argued, provide a behavioral model of semantic or symbolic meaning in natural language, and thus equivalence relations should possess properties that are typically associated with semantic... more

The eight types of priming task and related descriptive statistics for Experiment 3.

Fig. 1. Grand average waveforms from 20 participants for prime-target stimulus pairs that were directly trained (thin black lines), equivalent (thick gray lines) and nonequivalent (thick black lines) at electrode sites C3, C4 (top panel), P3, P4 (second panel), T3, T4 (third panel), T5, T6 (fourth panel), and O1, O2 (bottom panel). Note that the prime was presented 100 ms (—100) prior to the target stimulus (0 ms).

A schematic representation of the trained conditional discriminations and tested equivalence relations.

A schematic representation of the 48 trial types presented during the lexical decision procedure. Pm = Prime, Tg = Target, Rp = Correct Response, N = Nonsense Word.

The eight types of priming task and related descriptive statistics for Experiment 1. be significant, F(7, 182) = 14.264, p < .0001, ile’ = .35. A series of Scheffé post hoc tests also were conducted, comparing data for equivalent and nonequivalent stimulus pairs presented during the lexical decision tasks, the results of which are shown in Table 4. The specific post hoc tests that were conducted were chosen based on those reported by Hayes and Bissett (1998). Reaction times were significantly faster when both the prime and the target words were from the same equiva- lence class than when they were from different classes (Table 4: Equivalent vs. nonequivalent comparisons). No significant differences were obtained when comparisons were made be- tween priming tasks in which the stimuli from both tasks were from the same equivalence class (Table 4: Equivalent vs. equivalent comparisons). Finally, no significant differ- ences were obtained between the two YES- response conditions (5 and 7) or the two NO- response conditions (6 and 8) in which the stimuli were either from different equivalence classes or were previously unseen (Table 4: Nonequivalent vs. nonequivalent compari- sons).

The eight types of priming task and related descriptive statistics for participants who passed and for participants who failed the equivalence test in Experiment 2. contained one or two previously unseen stimuli; these results are similar to Experiment 1. In contrast to the pass group, the partici- pants who failed the equivalence test produced a relatively brief mean RT for the directly trained relations only. icant difference was obtained when compar- isons were made between priming tasks in which the stimuli from both tasks were from the same equivalence relation (directly trained pairs generated greater priming than pairs related indirectly via equivalence; see Table 6: Equivalent vs. equivalent comparisons). Final- ly, no significant differences were obtained between the two YES-response conditions (5 and 7) or the two NO-response conditions (6 and 8) in which the stimuli were either from different equivalence classes or were previously unseen (Table 6: Nonequivalent vs. nonequiv- alent comparisons). In short, the RT data from the pass group in Experiment 2 were similar to those obtained in Experiment 1, except that a significant difference was obtained between directly trained and equivalence priming trial types.

Results of Scheffé post hoc tests comparing area dimensions (UV X ms), 350 to 550 ms, for the directly trained, equivalent, and nonequivalent trial types for each of the 10 electrode sites, with percentage of individual participants (in parentheses) conforming to the direction of the statistically significant effects. lent, and nonequivalent stimulus pairs that were established using a behavioral model of semantic relations. The results also indicated a significant effect for laterality, with greater negativity observed for the left, relative to the right sites. The post hoc analyses suggest that the left and right hemispheres may be differ- entially sensitive to the mediated priming effect. That is, all five of the left-hemisphere sites but none of the right-hemisphere sites produced significant differences between equivalent and nonequivalent prime-target pairs, although two of the latter sites were only marginally nonsignificant. Overall, Exper- iment 3 provides evidence for both direct and mediated priming among derived stimulus relations using the three most common measures employed in semantic priming re- search; RTs, error scores, and the N400 waveform. not sufficient to produce the priming effect normally observed with semantic relations in natural language. Rather, the conditional discrimination training must give rise to de- rived equivalence relations if semantic-like effects are to be obtained. This result certainly supports the argument that derived relations, rather than directly reinforced stimulus rela- tions alone, provide a behavioral model of what cognitive researchers refer to as semantic processes (Barnes-Holmes, Hayes & Dymond, 2001; Barsalou, 1999; Deacon, 1997; Hayes & Bisset, 1998).

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The basis of superstitious behavior: chance contingency, stimulus substitution, or appetitive behavior?

by Gary Lucas

1985, Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

This research examined three explanations for the "superstitious" behavior of pigeons under frequent fixed-time delivery of food: accidental response-reward contingency, stimulus substitution, and elicited species-typical appetitive... more

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Discriminative Control of Punished Stereotyped Behavior in Humans

by Kathryn saunders

2007, Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The purpose of this experiment was to establish discriminative control of responding by an antecedent stimulus using differential punishment because the results of past studies on this topic have been mixed. Three adults with mental... more

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The Role of Common Motor Responses in Stimulus Categorization by Preschool Children

by Amanda Mahoney

2011, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of common motor responses as the ''speaker'' behavior on stimulus class formation, and the emergence of functional classes. Experiment 1 examined whether training one motor response to a... more

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Verbal relations within instruction: Are there subclasses of the intraverbal?

by Kent Johnson and

1985, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Six college undergraduates received programmed concept training on three kinds of intraverbal relations. These relations involved definition, exemplification, and example identification questions. The experimenter presented the questions,... more

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The formation of visual stimulus equivalences in children

by Ronald Lazar

1984, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

normal children were presented a series of matching-to-sample tasks, using five sets of visual stimuli designated A, B, C, D, and E. Stimulus equivalences were established by matching stimuli from one set to those from another set. Each... more

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The Effects of Delayed Reinforcement on Variability and Repetition of Response Sequences

by Amy Odum

2006, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Four experiments examined the effects of delays to reinforcement on key peck sequences of pigeons maintained under multiple schedules of contingencies that produced variable or repetitive behavior. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, in the... more

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Choice in a variable environment: every reinforcer counts

by Michael Davison and

2000, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Six pigeons were trained in sessions composed of seven components, each arranged with a different concurrent-schedule reinforcer ratio. These components occurred in an irregular order with equal frequency, separated by 10-s blackouts. No... more

Fig. 1. Bird 91. Log response ratios following each successive reinforcer delivered in each of the seven components in each condition of the experiment. Each panel shows data from a particular reinforcer ratio (indicated at the tor of each panel). The different curves show data from conditions that arranged different numbers of reinforcers pe1 component (R/C) and reinforcer rates (R/M) as indicated in the legend. Response numbers for each alternative were summed across all 35 sessions. On the x axis, the value of 0 indicates response ratios prior to the first reinforce: delivery.

Fig. 2. Bird 92. Log response ratios as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven com ponents in each condition of the experiment. See Figure 1.

Fig. 3. Bird 93. Log response ratios as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven com- ponents in each condition of the experiment. One data point for the 27:1 reinforcer-ratio component fell off the graph. See Figure 1.

Fig. 4. Bird 94. Log response ratios as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven con ponents in each condition of the experiment. See Figure 1.

Fig. 5. Bird 95. Log response ratios as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven com- ponents in each condition of the experiment. Two data points for the 1:27 reinforcer-ratio component fell off the graph. See Figure 1.

Fig. 6. Bird 96. Log response ratios as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven con ponents in each condition of the experiment. See Figure 1.

Fig. 7. Group log response ratios obtained by summing response numbers over the 6 subjects as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in each of the seven components in each condition of the experiment. See Figure 1.

Fig. 8. Group log response ratios in Conditions 7 (12 reinforcers per component, 2.22 reinforcers per minute) and 8 (12 reinforcers per component, six reinforcers per minute) as a function of the arranged log reinforcer ratio in the components for the data collected before the first reinforcer (R1), between the first and second reinforcers (R2), up to the 12th reinforcer. Filled circles show data from Condition 7, and open circles show data from Condition 8.

Fig. 10. Time-allocation sensitivity to reinforcement (from fits exemplified in Figure 8) according to Equation 1 for the group average data (times summed over all 6 subjects) as a function of successive reinforcers delivered in all conditions of the experiment. R/C indicates the number of reinforcers per component, and Hi indicates the conditions in which six (rather than 2.22) reinforcers per minute were arranged. Fig. 9. Response-allocation sensitivity to reinforce- ment (from fits exemplified in Figure 8) according to Equation 1 for the group average data (response num- bers summed over all 6 subjects) as a function of succes- sive reinforcers delivered in all conditions of the experi- ment. R/C indicates the number of reinforcers per component, and Hi indicates the conditions in which six (rather than 2.22) reinforcers per minute were arranged.

Fig. 11. Condition 7 (2.22 reinforcers per minute). Log response ratios in 1:1 and 27:1 reinforcer-ratio com- ponents as a function of successive reinforcers delivered according to the reinforcer ratio in the previous com- ponent, as shown on the legend. The results from the first component of a session, which did not follow any other component, are labeled “first component.”

Fig. 12. Condition 8 (six reinforcers per minute). Log response ratios in 1:1 and 27:1 reinforcer-ratio com: ponents as a function of successive reinforcers delivered according to the reinforcer ratio in the previous com- ponent, as shown on the legend. The results from the first component of a session, which did not follow any other component, are labeled ‘“‘first component.”

Fig. 13. Scatterplots of the relation between log response ratios emitted before the first reinforcer in a component as a function of the log response ratio emitted before the final reinforcer of the previous component. The lines, and associated equations shown on the graphs, show the best fitting linear regressions through the data. The data are from conditions that arranged 2.22 reinforcers per minute.

Fig. 14. Scatterplots of the relation between log response ratios emitted before the first reinforcer in a component as a function of the log response ratio emitted before the final reinforcer of the previous component. The lines, and associated equations shown on the graphs, show the best fitting linear regressions through the data. The data are from conditions that arranged six reinforcers per minute.

Fig. 15. Log response ratios following each reinforcer delivery in sequences of left- and right-key reinforcer deliveries for all conditions of the experiment. For clarity, only the data up to the delivery of the third reinforcer are shown. Dotted lines join points in which right reinforcers were subsequently delivered.

Fig. 16. Log response ratios following selected se- quences of left-right reinforcer deliveries in Conditions 7 (2.22 reinforcers per minute) and 8 (six reinforcers per minute) when 12 reinforcers per component were ar- ranged. The sequences were L, LR, LLR, LLLR, etc., and R, RL, RRL, RRRL, etc. Dotted lines join disconfirmations, in which a reinforcer was delivered for a response on an alternative that was different from prior reinforced re- sponses in that component.

Fig. 17. Sensitivity to reinforcement values from multiple linear regressions between log response ratios and arranged log reinforcer ratios (Equation 2) in the previous and the present components for each successive reinforce1 delivery. R/C indicates the number of reinforcers per component, and Hi indicates the conditions in which six reinforcers per minute were arranged.

Fig. 18. Predictions of sensitivity to reinforcement val- ues obtained from a simulation of the model embodied in Equations 3 and 4. The figure parallels Figure 17.

Sequence of experimental conditions, number of rein- forcers per component, the maximum number of rein- forcers per session available, and the overall arranged rate of reinforcers in each condition of the experiment. In Conditions 4, 6, and 9, each component was presented twice per session.

Values of sensitivity (a) and bias (log c) for each experimental condition prior to each suc- cessive reinforcer in the components. The data used were averaged over the 6 subjects (i.e., the response and reinforcer totals were averaged and sensitivity values were determined from those averages).

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Stimuli, Reinforcers, And Behavior: An Integration

by Michael Davison

1999, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

We propose that a fundamental unit of behavior is the concurrent discriminated operant, and we discuss in detail a quantitative model of the concurrent three-term contingency that is based on the notion that an animal's behavior is... more

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The Challenge of Characterizing Operations in the Mechanisms Underlying Behavior

by William Bechtel

2005, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Neuroscience and cognitive science seek to explain behavioral regularities in terms of underlying mechanisms. An important element of a mechanistic explanation is a characterization of the operations of the parts of the mechanism. The... more

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Tests of behavior momentum in simple and multiple schedules with rats and pigeons

by Steven M. Lev Cohen

1993, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Four experiments examined the relationship between rate of reinforcement and resistance to change in rats' and pigeons' responses under simple and multiple schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, 28 rats responded under either simple... more

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The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

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