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. 1977 Jan;27(1):203–214. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1977.27-203

Undermatching: a reappraisal of performance on concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement1

David L Myers, Lawrence E Myers
PMCID: PMC1333565  PMID: 16811977

Abstract

The extant data for pigeons' performance on concurrent variable-interval schedules were examined in detail. Least-squares lines relating relative pecks and time to the corresponding relative reinforcements were obtained for four studies. The between-study group slopes for time and pecks and five of seven within-study group slopes from individual studies were less than 1.00. This suggested the generality that pigeons respond less to the richer reinforcement schedule than predicted by matching. For pecks, a nonparametric test for distribution of points also supported this concept of undermatching (to the richer reinforcement schedule). In addition, using mean squared error as the criterion, a cubic curve fit the peck proportion data better than any line or other polynomial. This indicates that the relation between peck and reinforcement proportions may be nonlinear.

Keywords: undermatching concurrent variable-interval schedules, matching, pigeons

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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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