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DELAY AND AMOUNT OF REWARD IN A CONCURRENT CHAIN
Author(s) -
Snyderman Mark
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1983.39-437
Subject(s) - reinforcement , schedule , preference , operant conditioning , terminal (telecommunication) , psychology , statistics , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , computer network , operating system
Eight pigeons responded under a concurrent‐chain schedule for rewards differing in both delay and amount, the larger reward being associated with the longer delay. Preference was examined as the absolute durations of the terminal‐link delays were increased at four different delay ratios. Difficulties with other experiments of this type were controlled for by the use of (a) a single‐tape initial link to equalize terminal‐link entries, (b) a blackout following the more immediate reward to equalize terminal‐link length, and (c) a photocell to measure reinforcer duration more accurately. Preference for the larger reward changed systematically as delays increased in all conditions, decreasing for the 6:1, 3:1, and 3:2 ratios, and increasing for the 1:1 ratio. These results were similar to, but significantly different from, those of previous investigations. The implications of these results for various models of concurrent‐chain behavior are discussed.