Jones, B. M. (2003).
Quantitative analyses of matching-to-sample performance.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
79, 323-350.
Six pigeons performed a simultaneous matching-to-sample (ITS)
task involving patterns of dots on a liquid-crystal display. Two
samples and two comparisons differed in terms of the density of
pixels visible through pecking keys mounted in front of the
display. Selections of Comparison 1 after Sample 1, and of
Comparison 2 after Sample 2, produced intermittent access to
food, and errors always produced a time-out. The disparity
between the samples and between the comparisons varied across
sets of conditions. The ratio of food deliveries for the two
correct responses varied over a wide range within each set of
conditions, and one condition arranged extinction for correct
responses following Sample 1. The quantitative models proposed by
Davison and Tustin (1978), Alsop (1991), and Davison (1991)
failed to predict performance in some extreme reinforcer-ratio
conditions because comparison choice approached indifference (and
strong position biases emerged) when the sample clearly signaled
a low (or zero) rate of reinforcement. An alternative
conceptualization of the reinforcement contingencies operating in
ITS tasks is advanced and was supported by further analyses of
the data. This model relates the differential responding between
the comparisons following each sample to the differential
reinforcement for correct responses following that sample.
Key words: matching-to-sample, signal-detection, discriminated operant, quantitative models, reinforcement contingencies, key peck, pigeons