Coordinated Responding under Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement

Allocation of responses under concurrent schedules of reinforcement is well documented in behaviour analysis and described by the generalized matching law. However, much of this research focuses on the responding of individual organisms. In an interlocking behavioural contingency (IBC) the behaviour or behavioural product of one individuals behaviour can serve as the antecedent or consequence for the behaviour of another. The result of an IBC, an aggregate product, can be used as a unit of analysis and was in this research was studied under concurrent schedules reinforcement. Pairs of human participants played a computer game with a two-choice procedure on a variety of variable intervals on concurrent schedules. Twenty four individuals aged 20 - 37 (12 pairs) participated. Results were analysed using the generalised matching equation (Baum, 1974) and suggest that response allocation was in accordance with the generalised matching law. The relevance for future research is discussed.