Behavioral competition, component duration and multiple-schedule contrast

Four pigeons pecked keys on multiple variable - interval variable-interval schedules of food reinforcement. When the duration of each component was varied independently, response rates during the rich component of a multiple VI 60-sec VI 240-sec schedule were inversely related to its duration, whereas rates during the lean component were directly related to its duration. These findings are consistent with the view that behavioral contrast on multiple schedules is a result of the reallocation of competing interim and terminal activities. The size of contrast is a function of the competitiveness of interim activities, which is governed by dynamic satiation and deprivation processes.

Duke Scholars

Author John E. R. Staddon Psychology & Neuroscience