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Related Experiment Videos

Choice and timing in concurrent chains: effects of initial-link duration.

Randolph C Grace1, Mark E Berg, Elizabeth G E Kyonka

  • 1University of Canterbury, Department of Psychology, Christchurch, New Zealand. r.grace@psyc.canterbury.ac.nz

Behavioural Processes
|January 4, 2006
PubMed
Summary

This study investigated how pigeons choose between delayed rewards. Results suggest that memory representations of delay durations do not directly influence choice behavior in concurrent chains procedures.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral neuroscience
  • Animal cognition
  • Decision-making under delay

Background:

  • Theories of timing propose that delays are memorized and sampled during choice.
  • Convergent measurement of choice and timing behavior is needed to test these assumptions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate covariation in single-trial performance measures related to choice and timing.
  • To test if initial- and terminal-link responding in concurrent chains share common delay representations.

Main Methods:

  • Four pigeons were trained on a concurrent chains/peak procedure.
  • Terminal links involved fixed-interval (FI) 8s and FI 16s schedules.
  • Initial-link duration varied (short/long), with some terminal links ending without reward.

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Main Results:

  • The 'initial-link effect' (preference for FI 8s with shorter initial links) was replicated.
  • Responding on no-food trials was unaffected by initial-link duration.
  • Local measures of initial-link performance showed increased visits to the nonpreferred alternative, but contributed little to predicting no-food trial performance.

Conclusions:

  • No clear evidence was found supporting a common representation of terminal-link delays for initial- and terminal-link responding.
  • The findings challenge assumptions that memory-based delay sampling directly mediates choice in this paradigm.