| Question | Answer |
| Concurrent Schedule of reinforcement | simultaneous presentation of 2+ independent schedules each leading to a reinforcer. The organism is allowed a choice between responding on 1 schedule vs. the other(s) |
| Matching Law | the proportion of RESPONSES emitted on a particular schedule matches the proportion of REINFORCERS obtained on that schedule. NOTE: not the number of responses/reinforcers. |
| Deviations of Matching | Undermatching
Overmatching
Bias from matching |
| Undermatching | proportion of responses on the richer schedule vs. the poorer schedule is less different than would be predicted by matching. NOTE: Undermatching is LESS different. |
| Overmatching | porportion of responses on the richer schedule vs. the poorer schedule is more different than would be predicted by matching. NOTE: OVERmatching is MORE different. |
| Bias from Matching | when 1 alternative attracts a higher proportion of responses than would be predicted by matching, regardless of whether that alternative contains the richer/poorer schedule of reinforcement. |
| Melioration theory | dist. of behavior in a choice situation shifts toward those alternatives that have higher value regardless of the long-term effect on the overall amount of reinforcement. |
| Melioration Theory problem #1 | 1. the alternative may not require as much responding as one is distributing toward it to obtain all of the available reinforcers |
| Melioration Theory problem #2 | 2. overindulgence in a highly reinforcingalternative can often result in long-term habituation to that alternative, thus reducing it's value as a reinforcer. |
| Melioration Theory problem #3 | 3. it's often the result of behavior being too strongly governed by immediate consequences as opposed to delayed consequences. |
| Self-Control | SKINNER: not an issue of willpower but an issue involving conflicting outcomes. |
| Physical Constraint (Skinner) | physically manipulate the environment to prevent the occurrence of some problem behavior. ie: leaving money at home to avoid spending it |
| depriving/satiating | altering the extent to which a certain event can act as a reinforcer. |
| temporal issue (self-control) | lack of self-control arises from the fact that our behavior is more heavily influenced by immediate consequences than by delayed consequences. IE: we would chose a smaller but immediate result instead of waiting for the larger result. |
| Mischel's Delay of Gratification Paradigm | |
