Richard Herrnstein

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Richard J. Herrnstein
Born	(1930-05-20)May 20, 1930 New York City^[1]
Died	September 13, 1994(1994-09-13) (aged 64)
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Harvard University
Known for	Matching law, The Bell Curve

Richard J. Herrnstein (May 20, 1930 – September 13, 1994) was an American researcher in animal learning in the Skinnerian tradition. He was one of the founders of quantitative analysis of behavior.

His major research finding as an experimental psychologist is called "matching law"—the tendency of animals to allocate their choices in direct proportion to the rewards they provide. To illustrate the phenomenon, imagine that there are two sources of reward, one of which is twice as rich as the other. Herrnstein found in his research that animals often chose at twice the frequency the alternative that was seemingly twice as valuable. This is known as "matching," both in quantitative analysis of behavior and mathematical psychology". He also developed melioration theory with William Vaughan, Jr.

He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of psychology at Harvard University and worked with B. F. Skinner in the Harvard pigeon lab, where he did research on choice behavior and behavioral economics. In 1965, and with Edwin Boring, Herrnstein authored A Source Book in the History of Psychology.

Herrnstein's research focused first on natural concepts and human intelligence in the 1970s, and peaked in prolificacy with the publication of his and Charles Murray's controversial best-selling book, The Bell Curve. Herrnstein died of peritoneal mesothelioma shortly before the book was released.

The matching law

Perhaps Herrnstein's most notable accomplishment in this field was the formulation of the matching law. According to the matching law, choices are distributed according to rates of reinforcement for making those choices. An instance of this for two choices can be stated mathematically as

${\frac {R_{1}}{R_{1}+R_{2}}}={\frac {r_{1}}{r_{1}+r_{2}}},$

where R₁ and R₂ are rates of response for two alternative responses, and r₁ and r₂ are rates of reinforcement for the same two responses. Behavior conforming to this law is 'matching,' and explanations of matching and departures from matching constitute a large and important part of the literature on behavioral choice.

Selected bibliography

A Source Book in the History of Psychology, Edited by Richard J. Herrnstein, Edwin G. Boring, Harvard 1965 ISBN 0-674-82410-5
I.Q. in the Meritocracy, Richard J. Herrnstein, Atlantic Monthly Press 1973
Crime and Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime, James Q. Wilson, Richard J. Herrnstein, The Free Press 1985 ISBN 0-684-85266-7
Herrnstein, Richard J.; Murray, Charles (1994). The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-02-914673-9. Lay summary (19 May 2013).
The Matching Law: Papers in Psychology and Economics by Richard J. Herrnstein, Edited by Howard Rachlin, David I. Laibson, Harvard 1997 ISBN 0-674-06459-3

References

↑ "Richard Herrnstein, 64, Dies; Backed Nature Over Nurture"

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 20221593 LCCN: n85118620 ISNI: 0000 0001 1803 9235 GND: 119502585 SUDOC: 057334307

Persondata
Name	Herrnstein, Richard
Alternative names
Short description	American psychologist
Date of birth	May 20, 1930
Place of birth	New York
Date of death	September 13, 1994
Place of death

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