The importance of Herrnstein's mathematical statement of the law of effect for behavior therapy.

McDowell, J. J.

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.37.7.771

Cited by 150 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Put another way, to produce a given increment in response rate, a greater increment in reinforcement rate is required in a rich environment than in a lean one. McDowell (1981aMcDowell ( , 1982 (1974) actually designed an experiment to test matching theory in a natural human environment. The rest of the evidence is incidential; that is, the data were collected for other reasons.…”

Section: Therapeutic Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most basic scientists would agree that matching theory has advanced significantly our understanding of how the environment governs behavior. In spite of its lengthy, active, and important history, however, and in spite of the publication of a number ofarticles that call attention to its clinical significance (Epling & Pierce, 1983;McDowell, 1981aMcDowell, , 1982Myerson & Hale, 1984), matching theory remains virtually unknown to applied behavior analysts. The purpose of this article is to describe matching theory, to explain its significance, and to show how it applies to human behavior in natural environments.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Matching Theory in Natural Human Environments

1988

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Matching theory is a mathematical account of behavior, many aspects of which have been confirmed in laboratory experiments with nonhuman and human subjects. The theory asserts that behavior is distributed across concurrently available response alternatives in the same proportion that reinforcement is distributed across those alternatives. The theory also asserts that behavior on a single response alternative is a function not only of reinforcement contingent on that behavior, but also of reinforcement contingent on other behaviors and of reinforcement delivered independently of behavior. These assertions constitute important advances in our understanding of the effects of reinforcement on behavior. Evidence from the applied literature suggests that matching theory holds not only in laboratory environments, but also in natural human environments. In addition, the theory has important therapeutic implications. For example, it suggests four new intervention strategies, and it can be used to improve treatment planning and management. Research on matching theory illustrates the progression from laboratory experimentation with nonhuman subjects to therapeutic applications in natural human environments.Matching theory (Herrnstein, 1970) is a mathematical account of behavior. It has been a part ofbasic behavior analysis for over a quarter of a century, and it has been a topic of considerable interest for at least the last 18 years. Most basic scientists would agree that matching theory has advanced significantly our understanding of how the environment governs behavior.

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Section: Therapeutic Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Matching Theory in Natural Human Environments

1988

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“…The quantitative expression of this functional relation, in the form of the matching law, provided an important experimental account of choice behavior. Potential applications of the matching law have since been the focus of several theoretical papers (e.g., Epling & Pierce, 1983;McDowell, 1982;Myerson & Hale, 1984) and clinical studies showing that human choice varies positively with relative reinforcement (Conger & Killeen, 1974;Mace, Neef, Shade, & Mauro, 1994;Martens & Houk, 1989;McDowell, 1981).…”

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Effects of Reinforcer Quality on Behavioral Momentum: Coordinated Applied and Basic Research

Mace¹,

Mauro²,

Boyajian³

et al. 1997

J of App Behav Analysis

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The high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence has been an effective treatment for noncompliance. However, treatment failures have also been reported. We hypothesized that the efficacy of the high-p treatment may be improved by using higher quality reinforcers for compliance to high-p instructions. The resistance of compliance to change was tested by varying reinforcer quality in two applied studies and a basic laboratory experiment. Experiment 1 tested the hypothesis that an increase in reinforcer quality for highp compliance will increase the effectiveness of the high-p treatment when it fails to increase compliance. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of reinforcer quality on resistance of compliance to change by presenting successive low-p requests following the high-p treatment. A basic laboratory study (Experiment 3) was conducted to further isolate the relation between reinforcer quality and behavioral momentum. Two different liquid reinforcers (sucrose and citric acid solutions) were presented in a two-component multiple variable-interval variable-interval schedule followed by a single extinction test session. Results of all three experiments showed a generally consistent relationship between reinforcer quality and behavioral momentum.

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“…Pierce and Epling (1983), for example, reviewed the evidence for matching in the human operant literature, and others have suggested that matching has important implications for applied behavior analysis McDowell, 1981McDowell, , 1982Myerson & Hale, 1984a, 1984b Sidman, 1960, chaps. 8 and 9).…”

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Methodology, the Matching Law, and Applied Behavior Analysis

Vyse

1986

BEHAV ANALYST

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The practical value ofthe quantitative analysis ofbehavior is limited by two methodological characteristics of this area of research: the use of (a) steady-state strategies and (b) relative vs. absolute response rates. Applied behavior analysts are concerned with both transition-state and steady-state behavior, and applied interventions are typically evaluated by their effects on absolute response rates. Quantitative analyses of behavior will have greater practical value when methods are developed for their extension to traditional rate-of-response variables measured across time. Although steady-state and relative-rate-of-response strategies are appropriate to the experimental analysis of many behavioral phenomena, these methods are rarely used by applied behavior analysts and further separate the basic and applied areas.Recently, a number of authors have begun to assess the importance of the matching law (Herrnstein, 1970) for the analysis of human behavior in natural settings. Pierce and Epling (1983), for example, reviewed the evidence for matching in the human operant literature, and others have suggested that matching has important implications for applied behavior analysis McDowell, 1981McDowell, , 1982Myerson & Hale, 1984a, 1984b Sidman, 1960, chaps. 8 and 9). Typically, an organism is exposed to a schedule of reinforcement, or some combination of schedules, for from 10 to 35 daily sessions, and measurements ofresponse and reinforcement rates are made in the final sessions when session-to-session variation is minimized and a stability criterion has been met. The data from earlier sessions are not reported or analyzed, and, in the case of matching law research, no predictions can be made about rates of behavior at these prior points.Applied researchers and clinicians seldom have the option of choosing between steady-state and transition-state strategies. In field settings, the task ofthe behavior analyst could be described as providing the change from one stable rate of response to another. Presumably, in reversal designs, baselines are characterized by higher rates of undesirable behavior and lower rates ofdesirable behavior, whereas the stable post-intervention rates of each would be reversed. Interventions in applied settings, however, like those in the operant laboratory, rarely produce an instant transition from one steady-state performance to another. Behavior change is often gradual, spanning several days or sessions before attaining a maintenance level; moreover, the shape 157

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The importance of Herrnstein's mathematical statement of the law of effect for behavior therapy.

Cited by 150 publications

References 16 publications

Matching Theory in Natural Human Environments

Matching Theory in Natural Human Environments

Effects of Reinforcer Quality on Behavioral Momentum: Coordinated Applied and Basic Research

Methodology, the Matching Law, and Applied Behavior Analysis

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