CHOICE BETWEEN DELAYED REINFORCERS AND FIXED-RATIO SCHEDULES REQUIRING FORCEFUL RESPONDING

• Published in: Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior 1990-01, Vol.53 (1), p.175-187
• Main Authors: Mazur, James E., Kralik, J. Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adjusting procedure; Animal; Animal behavior; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Choice Behavior; Columbidae; Conditioning; Conditioning, Classical; fixed ratio; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; key peck; Learning; Learning. Memory; Memory; Mental Recall; Motivation; Physical Exertion; pigeons; Preferences; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Reinforcement Schedule; reinforcer delay; response effort; variable time
• ISSN: 0022-5002; 1938-3711
• DOI: 10.1901/jeab.1990.53-175

This experiment measured pigeons' choices between delayed reinforcers and fixed‐ratio schedules in which a force of approximately 0.48 N was needed to operate the response key. In ratio‐delay conditions, subjects chose between a fixed‐ratio schedule and an adjusting delay. The delay was increased or decreased several times a session in order to estimate an indifference point—a delay duration at which the two alternatives were chosen about equally often. Each ratio‐delay condition was followed by a delay‐delay condition in which subjects chose between the adjusting delay and a variable‐time schedule, with the components of this schedule selected to match the ratio completion times of the preceding ratio‐delay condition. The adjusting delays at the indifference point were longer when the alternative was a fixed‐ratio schedule than when it was a matched variable‐time schedule, which indicated a preference for the matched variable‐time schedules over the fixed‐ratio schedules. This preference increased in a nonlinear manner with increasing ratio size. This nonlinearity was inconsistent with a theory that states that indifference points for both time and ratio schedules can be predicted by multiplying the choice response‐reinforcer intervals of the two types of schedules by different multiplicative constants. Two other theories, which predict nonlinear increases in preference for the matched variable‐time schedules, are discussed.