Response strength in multiple schedules.
Response strength can be quantified as the exponent of the power function relating response rates across reinforcement schedules.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team set up multiple schedules with pigeons. Birds pecked a key for food on two different timers.
Next they gave free food and then stopped all food. They counted how fast pecking died out.
The goal was to see if response strength, measured as resistance to change, follows a power curve.
What they found
Peck rates dropped in a smooth curve that fit a power function. The exponent acted like a strength score.
Higher reinforcement rates produced bigger exponents, meaning the behavior was harder to disrupt.
How this fits with other research
Dougherty et al. (1994) later swapped sucrose for water. Only the Re parameter moved, proving the equation still works when the reinforcer changes.
Dougherty et al. (1994) also varied sucrose strength. They saw the same power relation, but only low reinforcement rates felt the boost.
Together these papers show the power function is sturdy across reinforcer type and size.
Why it matters
You now have a quick way to grade behavior strength: fit a power curve to response rates before and after you thin reinforcement. The exponent tells you how well the behavior will survive treatment cuts or distraction. If the number is small, slow down your schedule changes or add stronger reinforcers before proceeding.
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Join Free →Track response rate across two schedule values, plot the points, and eyeball the slope as a quick strength check before thinning further.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In several different experiments, pigeons were trained with one schedule or condition of food reinforcement for pecking in the presence of one key color, and a different schedule or condition in the presence of a second key color. After responding in both of these multiple schedule components stabilized, response-independent food was presented during dark-key periods between components, and the rates of pecking in both schedule components decreased. The decrease in responding relative to baseline depended on the frequency, magnitude, delay, or response-rate contingencies of reinforcement prevailing in that component. When reinforcement was terminated, decreases in responding relative to baseline rates were ordered in the same way as with response-independent food. The relations between component response rates were power functions. Internal consistencies in the data, in conjunction with parallel findings in the literature, suggest that the concept of response strength summarizes the effects of diverse procedures, where response strength is identified with relative resistance to change. The exponent of the power function relating response rates may provide the basis for scaling response strength.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1974 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1974.21-389