McDowell, J. J, Caron, M.L., Kulubekova, S. & Berg, J.P. (2008).
A computational theory of selection by consequences applied to concurrent schedules.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 90, 387-403.
Virtual organisms animated by a computational theory of selection by consequences
responded on symmetrical and asymmetrical concurrent schedules of reinforcement.
The theory instantiated Darwinian principles of selection, reproduction, and
mutation such that a population of potential behaviors evolved under the
selection pressure exerted by reinforcement from the environment. The
virtual organisms’ steady-state behavior was well described by the power
function matching equation, and the parameters of the equation behaved
in ways that were consistent with findings from experiments with live
organisms. Together with previous research on single-alternative
schedules (McDowell, 2004; McDowell & Caron, 2007) these
results indicate that the equations of matching theory are emergent
properties of the evolutionary dynamics of selection by consequences.
Key words: : selection by consequences, behavior dynamics, matching theory,
computational modeling, concurrent schedules