CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 1,460Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsBehavioral and Psychological StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

ON TWO TYPES OF DEVIATION FROM THE MATCHING LAW: BIAS AND UNDERMATCHING 1

Open access
Baum, William M.·1974·Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
DOI 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-231PMC PMC1333261
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

DATA ON CHOICE GENERALLY CONFORM CLOSELY TO AN EQUATION OF THE FORM: log(B(1)/B(2))=a log(r(1)/r(2)+log k, where B(1) and B(2) are the frequencies of responding at Alternatives 1 and 2, r(1) and r(2) are the obtained reinforcement from Alternatives 1 and 2, and a and k are empirical constants. When a and k equal one, this equation is equivalent to the matching relation: B(1)/B(2)=r(1)/r(2). Two types of deviation from matching can occur with this formulation: a and k not equal to one. In some experiments, a systematically falls short of one. This deviation is undermatching. The reasons for undermatching are obscure at present. Some evidence suggests, however, that factors favoring discrimination also favor matching. Matching (a=1) may represent the norm in choice when discrimination is maximal. When k differs from one, its magnitude indicates the degree of bias in choice. The generalized matching law predicts that bias should take this form (adding a constant proportion of responding to the favored alternative). Data from a variety of experiments indicate that it generally does.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-231

Cites

24 of 24 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Herrnstein, R. J. Relative and absolute strength of response as a function of frequency of reinforce- ment. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Be- havior, 1961, 4, 267-272.
  2. Herrnstein, R. J. On the law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1970, 13, 243- 266.
  3. Herrnstein, R. J. and Loveland, D. H. Hunger and contrast in a multiple schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, (in press).
  4. Hollard, V. and Davison, M. C. Preference for quali- tatively different reinforcers. Journal of the Experi- mental Analysis of Behavior, 1971, 16, 375-380.
  5. Stubbs, D. A. and Pliskoff, S. S. Concurrent respond- ing with fixed relative rate of reinforcement. Jour- nal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1969, 12, 887-895.
  6. Todorov, J. C. Component duration and relative re- sponse rates in multiple schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1972, 17, 45-49.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Baum, W. M.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Baum, William M.
ORCID
Baum, William M.
Venue
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1974-07
Volume
22
Issue
1
Pages
231-242
ISSN
  • 0022-5002 (ISSN-L)
  • 1938-3711
DOI
10.1901/jeab.1974.22-231
PMC
PMC1333261
OpenAlex
W2082430497
Cited by
1,460
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 50 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 38
FWCI
12.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 14120 d)
Locations
  • Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Harvard University
  • National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
matching law, generalized matching law, undermatching, choice bias, reinforcement frequency, discrimination, choice behavior

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review