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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1986 Jan;45(1):47–62. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.45-47

An equation for behavioral contrast.

B A Williams, J T Wixted
PMCID: PMC1348210  PMID: 3950534

Abstract

Pigeons were trained on a three-component multiple schedule in which the rates of reinforcement in the various components were systematically varied. Response rates were described by an equation that posits that the response-strengthening effects of reinforcement are inversely related to the context of reinforcement in which it occurs, and that the context is calculated as the weighted average of the various sources of reinforcement in the situation. The quality of fits was comparable to that found with previous quantitative analyses of concurrent schedules, especially for relative response rates, with over 90% of the variance accounted for in every case. As with previous research, reinforcements in the component that was to follow received greater weights in determining the context than did reinforcements in the preceding component.

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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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