Comparing the generalized matching law and contingency discriminability model as accounts of concurrent schedule performance using residual meta-analysis.

Full Abstract

To compare the generalized matching law (Baum, W.M., 1974b. On two types of deviation from the matching law:
bias and undermatching. J. Exp. Anal. Behav. 22, 231-242) and contingency discriminability model (Davison, M., Jenkins, P.E., 1985. Stimulus discriminability, contingency discriminability, and schedule performance. Anim. Learn. Behav. 13, 77-84) as accounts of concurrent schedule performance, we conducted a residual meta-analysis of response- and time-allocation data from 20 studies (n's=886 and 774, respectively). Both models were fitted to the individual-subject data from each study, and residuals were obtained. Polynomial regressions were then performed on the pooled residuals to determine whether systematic trends were present as a function of predicted values. For the contingency discriminability model, the cubic coefficients were positive and statistically significant for both response- and time-allocation data. By contrast, no statistically significant systematic trend was obtained in the residuals for the generalized matching law. These results suggest that the relationship between log response allocation and log reinforcer allocation does not deviate significantly from linearity over an approximate range of +1.25 to -1.25 log units, consistent with the generalized matching law. Although qualitative criteria are also important in comparing models of behavioral phenomena, residual meta-analysis provides a powerful quantitative methodology for model selection and should prove useful in future research.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Sutton, Nicholas P (NP); Grace, Randolph C (RC); McLean, Anthony P (AP); Baum, William M (WM);

Affiliation: University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Meta-Analysis

Journal: Behavioural processes (Behav Processes), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 78 (issue 2) : pp 224-30

Dates: Created 2008/04/28; Completed 2008/07/25;

PMID: 18384977, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.