Probability Relations within Response Sequences under Ratio Reinforcement.
01 Apr 1958-Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior)-Vol. 1, Iss: 2, pp 109-121
About: This article is published in Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.The article was published on 1958-04-01 and is currently open access. It has received 264 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Reinforcement.
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TL;DR: Pigeons were trained in a conditional discrimination paradigm to differentiate successively presented visual arrays according to the relative number of their elements as discussed by the authors, and the birds' discrimination performance corresponded to the order of stimuli on a numerosity dimension.
Abstract: Pigeons were trained in a conditional discrimination paradigm to differentiate successively presented visual arrays according to the relative number of their elements. Transfer tests with novel stimuli demonstrated that they discriminated the categories of “many” (6 or 7) from “few” (1 or 2) items. In further tests, other new stimuli were introduced that consisted not only of these training numerosities, but also of the intervening ones (3, 4, and 5). Variations in the birds’ discrimination performance corresponded to the order of stimuli on a numerosity dimension. This serial ordering was maintained when other factors such as brightness, size, shape, area, and contour of the elements were systematically controlled across tests. Smaller numerosities were somewhat better discriminated than those at the higher end of this test range.
92 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that price estimation relies on a learned mapping between items and their prices as represented by distributions of activation on an internal number line.
Abstract: The present paper examines the ability to evaluate prices in a familiar currency (French francs, Portugese escudos, or Irish punt) and in an unfamiliar currency (euro). Participants evaluated prices for different items either by selecting the most appropriate price from a set of alternatives (in a timed or not-timed version) or by directly producing a price estimate for each item. The results followed Weber's law: The standard deviation of estimated prices was proportional to their mean. The Weber fraction was stable for the familiar currency in different countries, but was significantly higher for the unfamiliar currency. We suggest that price estimation relies on a learned mapping between items and their prices as represented by distributions of activation on an internal number line. The observed Weber fraction reflects the degree of expertise with a given currency as well as a minimal variability intrinsic to the number line itself.
91 citations
Cites background from "Probability Relations within Respon..."
...Scalar variability was initially demonstrated in animals’ perception of numerosity (Mechner, 1958; Meck & Church, 1983)....
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TL;DR: Examination of how numerical intuition for prices develops after a major change in currency suggests that price estimates become progressively more accurate by a process that is related to buying frequency and, hence, is faster for frequently bought items.
Abstract: This article examines how numerical intuition for prices develops after a major change in currency. University students in Portugal (Study 1) and Austria (Study 2) made price estimates for 40 different items from November 2001 to June 2002, surrounding the time at which these countries switched to the euro. Overall results are more in accordance with a relearning hypothesis, considering that price estimates become progressively more accurate by a process that is related to buying frequency and, hence, is faster for frequently bought items. An alternative global rescaling hypothesis received mixed support. Results also suggest that price estimations in euros have not yet reached a level of accuracy comparable with estimations in the former national currency.
86 citations
Cites background from "Probability Relations within Respon..."
...Scalar variability was initially demonstrated in animals’ perception of numerosity (Mechner, 1958; Meck & Church, 1983) and also in humans for both numerosity perception and production tasks using simple stimuli such as light flashes and chips (Whalen, Gallistel, & Gelman, 1999)....
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TL;DR: This temporal reproduction study assessed whether the scalar property was upheld when participants chronometrically counted three visually presented durations as compared with explicitly timing durations without counting.
Abstract: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Weber’s law applied to interval timing is called thescalar property A hallmark of timing in the secondsto-minutes range, the scalar property is characterized by proportionality between the standard deviation of a response distribution and the duration being timed In this temporal reproduction study, we assessed whether the scalar property was upheld when participants chronometrically counted three visually presented durations (8, 16, and 24 sec) as compared with explicitly timing durations without counting Accuracy for timing and accuracy for counting were similar However, whereas timing variability showed the scalar property, counting variability did not Counting variability across intervals was accurately modeled by summing a random variable representing an individual count A second experiment replicated the first and demonstrated that task differences were not due to presentation order or practice effects The distinct psychophysical properties of counting and timing behaviors argue for greater attention to participant strategies in timing studies
85 citations
Cites background from "Probability Relations within Respon..."
...The scalar property is also evident in a wide range of nontemporal tasks that involve numerical representations, including number discrimination in animals ( Mechner, 1958; Meck & Church, 1983; Platt & Johnson, 1971), nonverbal numerical representation in both animals and humans (Gallistel & Gelman, 1992), and nonverbal counting in humans (Cordes, Gelman, Gallistel, & Whalen, 2001; Whalen, Gallistel, & Gelman, 1999)....
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TL;DR: The current experiments demonstrate how comprehensive the range of behavioral toxicology needs to be to deal with environmental health issues.
Abstract: Organic solvents are pervasive in the communal and industrial environments. Although many are potent central nervous system agents, clearly delineated behavioral effects have played only a minor role in the formation of exposure standards. A comprehensive behavioral pharmacology and toxicology of these compounds is one aim of US/USSR collaboration. The current report describes some actions of carbon disulfide and toulene. Earlier data about the actions of carbon disulfide on pigeon operant performance indicated disruption of schedule-controlled key-pecking. Primate data are now described from a situation designed to determine aversive thresholds to electrical stimulation. Effective concentrations of carbon disulfide produced both a rise in the amount of electric shock tolerated and a diminution of the response force exerted by the monkeys. In experiments with toluene, pigeons were shown to elevate key-pecking rate in an operant situation at certain concentrations. Toluene also was studied for its capacity to maintain self-administration in the same way as drugs of abuse. Monkeys worked to gain access to toulene vapor just as they work for opiates or amphetamines. The current experiments demonstrate how comprehensive the range of behavioral toxicology needs to be to deal with environmental health issues.
81 citations
References
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340 citations
203 citations
TL;DR: I am indebted to Professor Lighthill for some further illuminating remarks regarding this point and his comments on Heisenberg's Theory of Isotropic Turbulence are highly illuminating.
Abstract: 1 G. K. Batchelor, The Theory of Homogeneous Turbulence (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1954). 2 G. K. Batchelor and A. A. Townsend, \"Decay of Turbulence in the Final Period of Decay,\" Proc. Roy. Soc. London, A, 194, 527-543, 1948. 3 W. Heisenberg, \"Zur statistischen Theorie der Turbulenz,\" Z. Physik, 124, 628-657, 1948. 4W. H. Reid, \"Two Remarks on Heisenberg's Theory of Isotropic Turbulence,\" Quart. Appl. Math. 14, 201-205, 1956. 6 Cf. M. J. Lighthill, Nature, 173, 746, 1954. I am indebted to Professor Lighthill for some further illuminating remarks regarding this point.
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