John C. Borrero, Stephany S. Crisolo, Qiuchen Tu, Weston A. Rieland, Noël A. Ross, Monica T. Francisco, & Kenny Y. Yamamoto. (2007)
An application of the matching law to social dynamics.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
40, 589-601.
Using a procedure similar to the one described by Conger and Killeen
(1974), we evaluated levels of attending for 25 college students who
participated in either a 20-min (n = 12) or 30-min (n = 13) discussion on
juvenile delinquency. Confederates delivered statements of agreement
(e.g., “I agree with that point”) according to independent variable-interval
schedules. Pooled results were evaluated using three generalized
formulations of the matching law, and showed that matching was
more likely during the first 5 min of the discussion than during the
last 5 min. Individual data for 7 of 9 participants were better described
by the generalized response-rate matching equation than by the
generalized time-allocation matching equation when response
allocation was characterized in terms of frequency rather than duration.
DESCRIPTORS: choice, matching law, social dynamics, conversation, agreement, verbal behavior