Noncontingent Reinforcement, Alternative Reinforcement, and the Matching Law: A Laboratory Demonstration

Abstract

Basic researchers, but not most applied researchers, have assumed that the behavior-decelerating effects of noncontingent reinforcement result at least partly from adventitious reinforcement of competing behaviors. The literature contains only sketchy evidence of these effects because few noncontingent reinforcement studies measure alternative behaviors. A laboratory model is presented in which concurrent schedules of contingent reinforcement were used to establish a "target" and an "alternative" behavior. Imposing noncontingent reinforcement decreased target behavior rates and increased alternative behavior rates, outcomes that were well described by the standard quantitative account of alternative reinforcement, the generalized matching law. These results suggest that adventitious reinforcement of alternative behaviors can occur during noncontingent reinforcement interventions, although the range of conditions under which this occurs remains to be determined in future studies. As an adjunct to applied studies, laboratory models permit easy measurement of alternative behaviors and parametric manipulations needed to answer many research questions.

Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives, X

“…7-4), a herbal written by Juan Badianus and an Indian convert named Martinus de la Cruz. The herbal was written in 1552 and refers to Vanilla by its Aztec name, tlilxochitl in describing its medicinal properties (Ecott, 2004).…”

“…Pierre-Henri Philibert, captain of the Le Rhône took Vanilla to Reunion (or Ile de Bourbon) from the French colony Cayenne in French Guiana in 1817, 1818 or 1819 (Focard, 1862;Legras, 1867Legras, -1868Delteil, 1884Delteil, , 1902Bouriquet, 1954;Ecott, 2004). Captain Philibert (1774, Saint-Denis, Reunion-1824 was the fourth son of Pierre Nicholas Jacquin Philibert a marine commissioner.…”

“…And, according to the Feuille Habdoma daire of 7 July 1819 Vanilla was one of the most interesting plants Philibert brought from Cayenne to Reunion (Legras, 1867(Legras, -1868. The plants were probably Vanilla pompona (Ecott, 2004). Philibert and Perotet went on a second mission to find Vanilla the following year, this time to the Philippines (Ecott, 2004).…”

“…The plants were probably Vanilla pompona (Ecott, 2004). Philibert and Perotet went on a second mission to find Vanilla the following year, this time to the Philippines (Ecott, 2004). They found Vanilla vines "… in the middle of a virgin forest, … climbing among the branches of an enormous bamboo thicket" (Ecott, 2004), collected many plants and brought them to Reunion.…”

“…Vanilla planifolia, "the ice cream orchid" (Ecott, 2004), is the only orchid ( Fig. 7-1A-I) grown as an edible plantation crop.…”