The Matching Law: What It Is, What It Isn't, and Why It Matters | Hannah Branigan

Podcast: Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training · Hannah Branigan

Opublikowano: 2026-05-14

Hannah follows up last episode's hot take on training speed with a deeper dive into the matching law, the behavioral principle that describes how learners allocate behavior in proportion to reinforcement schedules. She covers the original pigeon experiments, what decades of follow-up research have complicated, and how understanding this equation (without actually doing the math) can make you a more thoughtful and effective trainer in real life. Key Takeaways: The matching law describes behavior as proportional to reinforcement, but real life is messier than the original equation suggests: Variables like reinforcer quality, difficulty of t...