Behavioral variability: A unified notion and some criteria for experimental analysis

Abstract

Variability, previously treated as experimental noise, has become the object of systematic study. In studies of behavior there has been a high level of consistency in data referring to the initial appearance and maintenance of variability. However, research on behavioral variability includes theoretical/conceptual questions that still need to be addressed. This paper discusses the concept of variability and proposes criteria for encompassing the wide range of existing research and other work yet to be produced in this area. It is suggested that the difference between behaviors constitutes the property common to the universe of variable behaviors, and that this property can be modified or induced by reinforcement. If this is the common property of behavioral variability, the various uses of the term can be understood and grouped from a small number of criteria employed in scientific methodology. We consider the characteristics or properties in the units involved, the complexity and number of such units,the quantitative or qualitative type of the units and comparisons between them, and whether the units are considered in molecular or molar terms.