REINFORCEMENT, FEEDBACK, AND O-RULES: AN INCONSISTENCY

Abstract

Baum (1973) has proposed that operant behavior is the result of a feedback system comprising two distinct but interconnected functions, One, the feedback function , expresses how the environment depends on behavior. The other, the rule of the organism or O-rule, expresses how behavior depends on the environment. large here that irrespectively of its concentration on molar variables, the type of O-rule proposed by Baum (1973) is at odds with the concept of reinforced behavior. The inconsistency between the nature of the postulated O-rule and the concept of operant reinforcement can be seen in Baum's article itself (1973). A revised formulation of the O-rule is proposed.