Travel time and concurrent-schedule choice: retrospective versus prospective control

Area of Science:

• Behavioral neuroscience
• Animal behavior
• Operant conditioning

Background:

• Understanding how animals allocate time and effort between options is crucial in behavioral economics and neuroscience.
• Travel time between response alternatives is a key factor influencing choice behavior in concurrent schedules.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of signaled versus unsignaled travel times on pigeons' sensitivity to reinforcement schedules.
• To examine how previous and signaled travel times affect response and time allocation in concurrent variable-interval schedules.

Main Methods:

• Six pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules with two distinct travel times (4.5 s and 0.5 s).
• Part 1: Travel time signals were presented during response; Part 2: No signals were given.
• Generalized matching analyses were used to assess response and time sensitivity, alongside dwell time measurements.

Main Results:

• When travel times were signaled, pigeons showed higher sensitivity with longer travel times (4.5 s) compared to shorter ones (0.5 s).
• Dwell times were longer for the signaled longer travel time. No differences in sensitivity were found based on previous travel time when signals were present.
• Without signals, time-allocation sensitivity was greater after a longer previous travel time (4.5 s) than after a shorter one (0.5 s), but response allocation sensitivity did not differ.

Conclusions:

• Signal presence significantly modulates the impact of travel time on choice behavior, enhancing sensitivity to longer delays.
• The findings support quantitative models of travel time effects and highlight the importance of predictability in decision-making.
• Behavioral sensitivity to delays is influenced by both the current signaled condition and the history of experienced delays.