RUI: Reinforcement and Control of Behavioral Variability
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Operant behaviors are learned and repeated when they are followed by            reinforcers.  For example, the learning by a student in a classroom or          job performance by a worker in a factory partly depend upon                     reinforcing consequences.  The question asked in the present research           is whether variability is a dimension of behavior that is also                  controlled by contingent reinforcers.  If, for example, only                    unpredictable patterns of activity are followed by reinforcement, will          behavior become unpredictable and such unpredictability be maintained?                                                                                          Little is known about the control exerted over behavioral variability           by contingent reinforcers and, indeed, some researchers doubt that              such control is possible.  Previous research in Dr. Neuringer's                 laboratory showed that variability can be reinforced.  That research            involved an animal model to explore these basic questions.  Dr.                 Neuringer found that sequences of responses on two operanda by pigeons          became highly variable when reinforcement depended upon such                    variability.  The present research continues to test whether                    variability is, in fact, an instrumental dimension of behavior                  controlled by contingent reinforcement.  If it is, then a number of             predictions should be supported.  For example, reinforcement should             exert precise control over the degree of variability in behavior;               animals should be able to choose between different degrees of                   variability, with these choices controlled by reinforcers; and                  discriminative stimuli should produce variability or stereotypy,                depending upon the contingencies.                                                                                                                               Dr. Neuringer's research also will compare the reinforcement of                 repetitive and habitual behaviors with the reinforcement of variable            behaviors in seeking to distinguish between laws of habit and laws of           variation.  Other studies will explore whether and how the                      reinforcement of variability contributes to learning generally.                                                                                                 These basic experiments should help to define important functions of            instrumental variability.  They may help researchers and educators              produce variability when it is desired, for example, in learning,               problem-solving, creativity-demanding, or competitive situations.  And          the studies may provide assessment methods to help physicians and               health-care workers factor out the relative effects on behavioral               variability versus learned habits of drugs, brain damage, motivational          states, and psychological deficiencies.
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