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. 1984 Fall;17(3):367–380. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1984.17-367

Practical implications of the matching law

Joel Myerson 1,2, Sandra Hale 1,2
PMCID: PMC1307953  PMID: 16795677

Abstract

Many problem situations in applied settings are best conceptualized as choice situations. In addition, applied behavior analysts create choice situations when they reinforce a competing response to decrease inappropriate behavior. When such situations are analyzed using the matching law, variable interval (VI) schedules of reinforcement prove to be a superior intervention strategy regardless of the nature of the schedule maintaining other, less appropriate behavior. This conclusion is robust in that VI schedule superiority is observed in situations in which choice behavior is highly biased or shows pronounced undermatching as well as those in which the matching law holds precisely. Our analysis demonstrates the potential practical value of mathematical descriptions of behavior.

Keywords: matching law, concurrent reinforcement schedules, operant choice behavior, basic and applied behavior analysis

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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