Las Vegas Knows Better

Abstract

Discusses the problem of oversimplification sometimes made by writers of textbooks and teachers while trying to relate basic laboratory research to the familiar. An example of an inaccurate schedule analog concerns the variable-ratio (VR) schedule; textbooks that introduce the experimental analysis of behavior often cite the slot machine as an example of a device that programs VR reinforcement. A VR schedule is defined as a schedule in which reinforcement is produced by a fixed number of responses, but this number may change after each reinforcement. Slot machines, however, operate according to a schedule known as a constant-probability schedule. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)