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. 1977 Jan;27(1):85–96. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1977.27-85

Concurrent schedules: a quantitative relation between changeover behavior and its consequences

D Alan Stubbs, Stanley S Pliskoff, Howard M Reid
PMCID: PMC1333554  PMID: 16811983

Abstract

Data from several published experiments on concurrent variable-interval schedules were analyzed with respect to the effects of changeover delay on the time spent responding on a schedule before changing to an alternate schedule: i.e., the interchangeover time. Interchangeover time increases as the duration of the changeover delay increases, and the present analysis shows that a power function describes the relation. The power relation applied in spite of numerous differences in the experiments: different variable-interval schedules for the concurrent pairs; equal or unequal reinforcement rates for the schedules of the concurrent pairs; different durations of the changeover delay; response-dependent or response-independent reinforcers; pigeons or rats as subjects; different reinforcers. A power function also described the data in experiments where the changeover incurred a timeout, where a fixed ratio was required to changeover, and also when asymmetrical changeover delays were used.

Keywords: concurrent schedule, changeover delay, power function, variable interval, timing behavior, pigeons, rats

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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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