Response and time allocation in concurrent second-order schedules

Area of Science:

• Behavioral psychology
• Animal behavior studies
• Operant conditioning research

Background:

• Concurrent schedules of reinforcement are used to study choice behavior in animals.
• Understanding how animals allocate responses and time is crucial for behavioral economics.
• Previous research often assumes response and time measures are interchangeable indicators of preference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pigeons' choice behavior under concurrent variable-interval schedules with varying peck requirements.
• To compare response allocation and time allocation as measures of preference.
• To determine if response and time measures are equivalent in reflecting schedule-based choices.

Main Methods:

• Six pigeons were trained on two-key concurrent variable-interval schedules.
• The number of key pecks required to complete a response varied between conditions.
• Response and time allocation ratios were measured and compared to reinforcement rate ratios.

Main Results:

• Response and time allocation ratios under-matched obtained reinforcement rate ratios when peck requirements were equal or unequal.
• Response allocation was biased towards schedules with fewer required pecks.
• Time allocation varied directly with the ratio of required pecks, contrasting with response allocation.

Conclusions:

• Pigeons exhibit different preferences depending on whether response or time allocation is measured.
• Response measures indicate a preference for schedules with lower peck requirements.
• Time measures indicate a preference for schedules with higher peck requirements, challenging equivalence assumptions in choice research.