A Molar Equilibrium Theory of Learned Performance

Timberlake, William

doi:10.1016/s0079-7421(08)60158-9

Cited by 65 publications

(138 citation statements)

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“…In each case, as the slope of the MFF was changed, the slope of the corresponding response function did not change systematically. These results pose serious problems for models of schedule performance that assume direct sensitivity to the MFF (e.g., the molar optimality models of Kagel et al, 1980;Rachlin & Burkhard, 1978;Staddon, 1979;Timberlake, 1980). Molar optimality models have been most successful in explaining the difference between performance on ratio and interval schedules.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity to molar feedback functions: A test of molar optimality theory.

Ettinger¹,

Reid²,

Staddon³

1987

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes

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Molar optimality models assume that any reward schedule can be described by a molar feedback function, which is the relation between average response rates and average reinforcement rates enforced by that particular schedule. This molar feedback function is considered, by optimality models, to be a sufficient description of the schedule for the prediction of steady-state molar performance. In this article we challenge the fundamental assumption of all molar optimality modelsthat animals are directly sensitive to this molar feedback function. We found that animals were sensitive to the schedule conditions in effect, especially at the molecular level of postfood time, but they were not directly sensitive to the slopes of any ofthe molar feedback functions that we manipulated. Our data do not simply represent a failure to maximize a particular utility function so that this form of the function requires alteration. Rather, they demonstrate that animals may not be sensitive to the molar rates of responding and reinforcement described by the molar feedback functions. Our animals were sensitive to the schedules at a molecular level, and it is to this molecular level that we should direct our attention.Operant behavior can be explained in terms of its antecedents (causal accounts) or its consequences (functional accounts). The best developed functional accounts are in terms of optimality theory. Consequences can be measured moment by moment (molecular accounts) or as averages (molar accounts). Molar optimality accounts measure consequences in terms of the molar feedback function (MFF: Baum, 1973;Kagel, Battalio, Green, & Rachlin, 1980;Rachlin & Burkhard, 1978;Staddon, 1979;Timberlake, 1980), that is, the relation between average response rates and average reinforcement rates enforced by a particular schedule. It is possible to derive MFFs for all common reinforcement schedules. For example, the MFF for ratio schedules is a straight line through the origin, because reinforcement rate is directly proportional to response rate. The MFF for variable-interval schedules is a positively accelerated function with an asymptote at the scheduled maximum reinforcement rate, because reinforcement rate is directly related to response rate, but with diminishing returns.Molar optimality theories relate the differences in molar performance engendered by different schedules to the properties of the MFFs associated with them. For example, Staddon's ( 1979) minimum-distance model and Rachlin and Burkhard's (1 978) value-maximizing model both incorporate the MFF as a constraint to the objective function to be maximized or minimized. Any success of optimality theories in explaining performance These experiments were supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation to J. E. R. Staddon.The differences between different schedules implies that animals are in some way sensitive to MFF properties such as slope (cf. Staddon, 1982). As the slope of the MFF is changed, the slope of the corresponding response function should also chan...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity to molar feedback functions: A test of molar optimality theory.

Ettinger¹,

Reid²,

Staddon³

1987

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes

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“…For a theoretical discussion see Staddon (1977b), and Chapter 10. For theoretical discussions of regulation in the sense of this chapter see McFarland and Houston (1981), Stad-don (1979a,b), Timberlake and Allison (1974), Timberlake (1980), and an earlier paper by Premack (1965).…”

Section: Notes To Chaptermentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Behavior and Learning

Staddon

2016

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Every day at about 4:30, Jazz, a Hungarian Vizsla dog, leaps up on the sofa and looks out for his owner who always comes home at 5:00. He doesn't need an internal clock because he has an acute sense of smell that allows him to measure how long his master has been absent. Explaining complex behavior in simple ways, this book is a fascinating exploration of the evolution, development and processes of learning in animals. Now in its second edition, there is increased emphasis on development, evolution and dynamics; new accounts of taxic orientation, reflex induction, habituation and operant learning in organisms; more discussion of spatial learning and the processes underlying it; expanded chapters on choice and completely new chapters on molar laws, classical conditioning theories and comparative cognition. J. E. R. Staddon provides a definitive summary of contemporary theoretical understanding suitable for graduates and advanced undergraduates.

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“…The same results occurred under an identity schedule, a series of openings and closings that duplicated the unconstrained pattern of drinking and pausing. The results have implications for theories that assume that instrumental performance under schedule constraint derives from the animal's defense of a measured set-point.Key words: drinking, bouts, pauses, unconstrained pattern, inversion constraint, identity constraint, rats Numerous regulatory models assume that performance under the constraints of a schedule derives from the animal's defense of some set-point for the kinds of behavior controlled by the schedule (Hanson & Timberlake, 1983;Heth & Warren, 1978;Rachlin & Burkhard, 1978;Staddon, 1979;Timberlake, 1980;Timberlake & Allison, 1974). The set-point is commonly defined in terms of the total amount of responding typically observed in the absence of schedule constraint, in constant-duration sessions that allow unrestricted performance of the kinds of behavior under study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous regulatory models assume that performance under the constraints of a schedule derives from the animal's defense of some set-point for the kinds of behavior controlled by the schedule (Hanson & Timberlake, 1983; Heth & Warren, 1978;Rachlin & Burkhard, 1978;Staddon, 1979; Timberlake, 1980;Timberlake & Allison, 1974). The set-point is commonly defined in terms of the total amount of responding typically observed in the absence of schedule constraint, in constant-duration sessions that allow unrestricted performance of the kinds of behavior under study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Temporal Pattern of Unconstrained Drinking: Rats' Responses to Inversion and Identity Constraints

Allison

Moore

Gawley

et al. 1986

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Rats obtained all of their water by licking a metal tube during a series of daily 1-hour sessions. When the tube was freely available throughout, each rat showed the classic temporal pattern of unconstrained drinking: As the session progressed, drinking bouts generally grew shorter and pauses grew longer. In subsequent sessions the tube was opened and closed independently of the rat's behavior, on a schedule that gave the rat a chance to duplicate the exact inverse of its unconstrained baseline pattern. Thus, as the inversion session progressed, the opportunities to drink generally grew longer and the enforced pauses grew shorter. When the rats were forced away from their unconstrained patterns of drinking and pausing, their total time spent drinking consistently fell short of previous values, but total licks and volumetric intake remained at previous levels. The same results occurred under an identity schedule, a series of openings and closings that duplicated the unconstrained pattern of drinking and pausing. The results have implications for theories that assume that instrumental performance under schedule constraint derives from the animal's defense of a measured set-point.Key words: drinking, bouts, pauses, unconstrained pattern, inversion constraint, identity constraint, rats Numerous regulatory models assume that performance under the constraints of a schedule derives from the animal's defense of some set-point for the kinds of behavior controlled by the schedule (Hanson & Timberlake, 1983;Heth & Warren, 1978;Rachlin & Burkhard, 1978;Staddon, 1979;Timberlake, 1980;Timberlake & Allison, 1974). The set-point is commonly defined in terms of the total amount of responding typically observed in the absence of schedule constraint, in constant-duration sessions that allow unrestricted performance of the kinds of behavior under study. Various tests of the set-point status of a particular behavioral total have been performed or proposed (Allison, 1981(Allison, , 1983 The present paper introduces a method of rearranging the component parts of the unconstrained behavior, while forcing no change within any part. The question is whether the animal, forced out of its unconstrained pattern, will still reproduce the unconstrained total. If it does, then the underlying pattern would seem to be irrelevant. If it does not, then the sequential organization of the behavior would seem to be a pertinent system variable with a set-point of its own.As a preliminary step, we recorded the unconstrained behavior of the thirsty rat in a series of daily 1-hr sessions of free access to a water tube. These records provided information about the rat's drinking patterns in the absence of external constraint, including total time spent drinking, the duration of each drinking bout and each pause, and the place of each duration in the entire sequence of bouts and pauses.Next we tested whether the rat would invert its unconstrained sequence of bouts and pauses, if that were the only way it could maintain its total time spent drinking. We did ...

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A Molar Equilibrium Theory of Learned Performance

Cited by 65 publications

References 57 publications

Sensitivity to molar feedback functions: A test of molar optimality theory.

Sensitivity to molar feedback functions: A test of molar optimality theory.

Adaptive Behavior and Learning

The Temporal Pattern of Unconstrained Drinking: Rats' Responses to Inversion and Identity Constraints

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