2018 Volume 32 Issue 2 Pages 153-167
The copyist model accounts for both the response-rate difference between variable-ratio and variable-interval schedules that provided the same reinforcement rate (VR-VI rate difference) and the phenomenon of matching in choice (matching law) from the viewpoint of differential reinforcement of response sequences. The present tutorial describes details of mechanisms, simulated predictions, and conceptual implications of the copyist model as an example of modeling work in behavior analysis. How well the model of differential reinforcement (simplicity) fits the data of both the VR-VI rate difference and the matching law (accuracy and generality) is evaluated. The success of the model provides 2 conceptual suggestions: a molecular view of the time-window in operant conditioning and a shaping view of reinforcement. Although Skinner's 1950 paper was entitled “Are theories of learning necessary?”, he did not reject this kind of modeling work. The present paper concludes that modeling work, like the copyist model, can contribute to the advance of behavior analysis.
