Closed-economy multiple-schedule performance: effects of deprivation and session duration

An experiment studied how pigeons responded to food reinforcement on multiple variable-interval schedules where the total food consumption was fully dictated by the pigeons' interaction with the schedules. Results found evidence of overmatching, as seen in more extreme response allocation between components than the distribution of reinforcers. There was a drop in generalized-matching sensitivity from overmatching to undermatching values in traditional multiple schedules when food deprivation was raised by cutting session duration. Sensitivity likewise increased from undermatching to overmatching when the session became longer.