Terminal Link Duration Adjustment for S- Signals

Adjusts the terminal link duration for signalled extinction.

Usage

s_delta(tl_dur, tr_p, s_delta)

Arguments

tl_dur

Numeric vector. Duration of the terminal link.

tr_p

Numeric vector. Probability of terminal reinforcement following the terminal link.

s_delta

Numeric scalar or vector. Duration of the S- signal to use when terminal reinforcement probability is zero.

Value

A numeric vector where elements of tl_dur are replaced by s_delta if the terminal link has a non-zero duration and a reinforcement probability of zero.

Details

The function is named s_delta() in reference to the operant conditioning notation \(S^\Delta\), which denotes a stimulus that signals the unavailability of reinforcement (i.e., extinction). This distinguishes it from \(S^{-}\), a term more commonly used in respondent (Pavlovian) conditioning to indicate a stimulus associated with the absence of an unconditioned stimulus. However, due to theoretical overlap between operant and respondent frameworks, \(S^{-}\) is often (regrettably) used interchangeably with \(S^\Delta\), despite their distinct origins. A similar issue arises with the notation \(S^{D}\) (used in operant contexts to denote a discriminative stimulus for reinforcement) and \(S^{+}\) (its respondent counterpart), which are likewise sometimes conflated.

See also

choice_params(), s_plus_dur(), s_plus_tr_p()

Examples

s_delta(
  tl_dur = c(10, 10, 10, 0),
  tr_p = c(0, 1, 0.5, 1),
  s_delta = 1
  )
#> [1]  1 10 10  0