The Matching Law
E851140
The Matching Law is a principle in behavioral psychology stating that organisms distribute their responses among available choices in proportion to the reinforcement they receive from each option.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Matching Law | 0 |
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
principle in behavioral psychology
ⓘ
quantitative law of behavior ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | the law of matching NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
concurrent reinforcement schedules
ⓘ
operant conditioning ⓘ situations with two or more response alternatives ⓘ |
| assumes |
organism has experience with both alternatives
ⓘ
steady-state behavior ⓘ |
| basedOn |
rate of reinforcement
ⓘ
relative reinforcement frequency ⓘ relative response rate ⓘ |
| category | law of effect extensions ⓘ |
| coreIdea | responses are distributed in proportion to obtained reinforcement ⓘ |
| describes |
allocation of responses among alternatives
ⓘ
choice behavior under concurrent schedules of reinforcement ⓘ |
| explains |
preference for richer reinforcement schedules
ⓘ
undermatching and overmatching patterns ⓘ |
| field |
behavior analysis
ⓘ
experimental psychology ⓘ |
| firstDescribedIn | Herrnstein 1961 paper on relative and absolute strength of response ⓘ |
| formalizedBy | Richard J. Herrnstein NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| generalization |
applied to addiction research
ⓘ
applied to consumer choice ⓘ applied to organizational behavior management ⓘ applied to self-control and impulsivity ⓘ |
| generalizedForm | log(B1/B2) = a·log(R1/R2) + log b ⓘ |
| hasExtension | generalized matching law ⓘ |
| hasParameter |
bias parameter (log b)
ⓘ
sensitivity parameter (a or s) ⓘ |
| inBehaviorAnalysis | forms basis for quantitative models of choice ⓘ |
| influencedBy | operant conditioning framework of B. F. Skinner ⓘ |
| mathematicalForm |
B1/(B1+B2) = R1/(R1+R2)
ⓘ
R1/(R1+R2) = r1/(r1+r2) ⓘ |
| originatedIn | 1960s ⓘ |
| predicts |
proportional allocation of behavior to reinforcement
ⓘ
relative response rate equals relative reinforcement rate ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
behavioral economics
ⓘ
concurrent variable-interval schedules ⓘ hyperbolic discounting ⓘ melioration theory NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| testedWith |
concurrent variable-interval fixed-interval schedules
ⓘ
concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules ⓘ |
| usedIn |
choice experiments with pigeons
ⓘ
choice experiments with rats ⓘ human operant choice research ⓘ |
| variable |
B1 (response rate on alternative 1)
ⓘ
B2 (response rate on alternative 2) ⓘ R1 (reinforcement rate on alternative 1) ⓘ R2 (reinforcement rate on alternative 2) ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.