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Two- versus three-alternative concurrent-chain schedules: a test of three models
1Psychology Department, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven 06515-1355, USA. mazur@southernct.edu
Summary
Pigeons showed altered food schedule preferences based on a third option. Immediate food rewards increased preference for shorter delays, while delayed rewards decreased it, challenging some choice models.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral psychology
- Animal cognition
- Decision-making under uncertainty
Background:
- Concurrent-chain procedures are used to study choice behavior.
- Variable-interval schedules and terminal-link delays influence choice.
- Contextual effects on decision-making are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the presence or absence of a third schedule option affects choice in pigeons.
- To test the predictive power of different mathematical models of choice behavior.
- To examine the role of terminal-link delay in contextual choice.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with pigeons using concurrent-chain procedures.
- Variable-interval schedules served as initial links, with varying delays to food in terminal links.
- A third schedule was alternately present and absent across sessions.
Main Results:
- When the third schedule offered immediate food, pigeons preferred the shorter delay option of the other two schedules.
- When the third schedule had a 30-second delay, pigeons decreased their preference for the shorter delay option.
- Results contradicted Grace's contextual-choice model but supported delay-reduction and hyperbolic value-added models.
Conclusions:
- The availability of a third option significantly alters choice behavior in pigeons.
- Delay-reduction theory and the hyperbolic value-added model offer better explanations for these findings than contextual-choice models.
- These findings contribute to understanding the complex factors influencing decision-making and preference formation.