A discriminated rapid‐acquisition laboratory procedure for human continuous choice

Abstract

Previous continuous choice laboratory procedures for human participants are either prohibitively time‐intensive or result in inadequate fits of the generalized matching law (GML). We developed a rapid‐acquisition laboratory procedure (Procedure for Rapidly Establishing Steady‐State Behavior, or PRESS‐B) for studying human continuous choice that reduces participant burden and produces data that is well‐described by the GML. To test the procedure, 27 human participants were exposed to 9 independent concurrent random‐interval random‐interval reinforcement schedules over the course of a single, 37‐min session. Fits of the GML to the participants' data accounted for large proportions of variance (median R 2 : 0.94), with parameter estimates that were similar to those previously found in human continuous choice studies [median a : 0.67; median log( b ): ‐0.02]. In summary, PRESS‐B generates human continuous choice behavior in the laboratory that conforms to the GML with limited experimental duration.

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