I like the symmetry hypothesis too. Is there any evidence that animals may also 
value symmetry? How could we develop a critical test of the two competing 
theories: symmetry vs. matching?

Rick

Dr. Rick Froman, Chair
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR  72761
[email protected]
________________________________________
From: David Epstein [[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 1:46 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] the matching law and toilet paper

On Wed, 4 Mar 2009, Rick Froman went:

> In those situations where both are always available, I wonder if
> this is an example of the Matching Law in which the number [of]
> responses made to each choice will match the work required to
> achieve the reinforcement.

My guess is that there's an active aesthetic choice being made: people
like symmetry and will therefore keep the two rolls at roughly equal
sizes.

There's a really silly thesis project just waiting to be done here.

--David Epstein
   [email protected]

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