Behavioral Stereotypy and the Generalized Matching Equation

Abstract

The development of behavioral stereotypy is a common result of exposure to both response-dependent and response-independent reinforcement procedures. The generalized matching equation and two dynamic versions of that equation, which take into account the time differential between reinforcements and their effect on behavior, predict this outcome of many procedures involving reinforcement. Following from the assumption that distinct response topographies, distinct response sequences, or orientations to distinct stimuli can be treated in the equations as distinct classes of behavior, the equations predict that-at least for matching and undermatching-the behavior class that is most biased relative to other behavior classes of the same type will tend to predominate to the exclusion or near exclusion of those behavior classes.Key words: behavioral stereotypy, generalized matching equation, bias, response topography, behavior sequences, stimulus preferences, response preferences, response-independent reinforcement, superstitious behaviorBehavioral stereotypy is a well-established result of repeated applications of reinforcement. For example, reinforcing a particular response over a period of time reduces the variability in the force, duration, and topography of the response, even when no explicit contingency is programmed to restrict variability (e.g., Antonitis, 1951;Eckerman & Lanson, 1969;Guthrie & Horton, 1946;Notterman & Mintz, 1965;Skinner, 1938). In addition, reinforcing many different behavior sequences leads to the predominance of a small number of those sequences (e.g., Morris, 1987;Pisacreta, 1982b;Schwartz, 1980Schwartz, ,1982Vogel & Annau, 1973 enon of autoshaping, whereby a stereotypic response comes to be directed toward a previously neutral stimulus as a result of that stimulus being paired with a reinforcer (e.g., Brown & Jenkins, 1968;Jenkins & Moore, 1973).It will be shown in this article that predictions of the development of behavioral stereotypy can be derived from the generalized matching equation (Baum, 1974(Baum, , 1979

Sign‐ Versus Goal‐tracking: Effects of Conditioned‐stimulus‐to‐unconditioned‐stimulus Distance

“…Although the generalized matching equation was developed to describe behavior maintained by concurrently programmed schedules of reinforcement, it can be extended readily to situations in which reinforcement is presented independently of behavior (Pear, 1988).…”

“…If Bi and Bj are the amounts of responding (measured in units of time or response rate) allocated to two behavior classes, it follows from any of several versions of the generalized matching equation that Bi i= (bcs) 1-S) Bj (1) where b is a bias (termed response bias) toward one of the behavior classes when all reinforcement parameters are equal, c is relative reinforcements per unit of responding in each of the two behavior classes, and s is a constant indexing sensitivity to relative reinforcement rate for the two behavior classes (see Pear, 1988). On the basis of the literature on the generalized matching equation (e.g., Baum, 1979), the value of s is assumed to be close to, but less than, 1.…”