Choice in Concurrent Schedules with a Fixed-Duration Alternative

Abstract

The experiment was based on the hypothesis that changeover behavior is maintained by the relatively immediate consequences of the changeover response. Time allocation and relative response rates were measured in a situation where the changeover response resulted in a fixed duration stay in one of two random-interval schedules. Under these conditions, time distributions tended to match relative rates of reinforcement only if the duration of this imposed stay was approximately equal to the in-terchangeover time that was emitted when the opportunity to change over was always available. Interchangeover times were insensitive to the duration of the imposed stay in a schedule. Relative response rates did not always match relative rates of reinforcement, nor did they always conform to time allocation. The results are discussed in terms of local control of responding.