The partial-reinforcement extinction effect and the contingent-sampling hypothesis
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BRIEF REPORT
The partial-reinforcement extinction effect and the contingent-sampling hypothesis Guy Hochman & Ido Erev
Published online: 18 April 2013 # Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2013
Abstract The partial-reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) implies that learning under partial reinforcements is more robust than learning under full reinforcements. While the advantages of partial reinforcements have been well-documented in laboratory studies, field research has failed to support this prediction. In the present study, we aimed to clarify this pattern. Experiment 1 showed that partial reinforcements increase the tendency to select the promoted option during extinction; however, this effect is much smaller than the negative effect of partial reinforcements on the tendency to select the promoted option during the training phase. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the overall effect of partial reinforcements varies inversely with the attractiveness of the alternative to the promoted behavior: The overall effect is negative when the alternative is relatively attractive, and positive when the alternative is relatively unattractive. These results can be captured with a contingent-sampling model assuming that people select options that provided the best payoff in similar past experiences. The best fit was obtained under the assumption that similarity is defined by the sequence of the last four outcomes. Keywords Choice behavior . Judgment . Decision making . Reinforcement learning
G. Hochman (*) Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Erwin Mill Bldg., Bay C, Durham, NC 27705, USA e-mail: [email protected] G. Hochman Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel I. Erev Max Wertheimer Minerva Center for Cognitive Studies, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
The partial-reinforcement extinction effect (PREE; Humphreys, 1939) is one of the best examples of a basic behavioral phenomenon, detected in the laboratory, with potentially important practical implications. As most introductory psychology textbooks explain, the PREE refers to the fact that learned behavior is more robust to extinction when not all responses are reinforced (partial schedules) than when 100 % of responses are reinforced in training (full schedule; see, e.g., Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith, Bem, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995; Baron & Kalsher, 2000). For example, Atkinson et al. stated that partial reinforcements facilitate higher performance rates, since the probability that individuals will continue responding in the absence of reinforcements is much higher under partial schedules than under full schedules. Unfortunately, however, many empirical studies fail to support this textbook assertion. Most early demonstrations of the PREE used between-subjects laboratory designs (e.g., Grosslight & Child, 1947; Mowrer & Jones, 1945; Pavlik & Flora, 1993) to show that under partial-reinforcement schedules, individuals tend to engage in more responses during extinction than under full schedules. However, most laboratory studies using within-subj
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