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Concurrent-chain performance: Effects of absolute and relative terminal-link entry frequency
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|May 1, 1988
Summary
Pigeon behavior in concurrent-chain schedules shows that longer initial links increase sensitivity to reward ratios. This sensitivity appears to stabilize after 32 seconds, influencing how pigeons allocate their time and responses.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral psychology
- Animal behavior studies
- Operant conditioning
Background:
- Concurrent-chain schedules are used to study choice behavior.
- Understanding how initial link duration affects choice is crucial for behavioral economics.
- Pigeons are a common model organism for studying decision-making processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of initial link duration on sensitivity to terminal link reinforcement in pigeons.
- To determine if the generalized matching law accurately describes pigeon behavior under varying initial link durations.
- To analyze how response and time allocation are affected by changes in initial link duration.
Main Methods:
- Six pigeons were trained using a concurrent-chain procedure.
- Constant and variable interval schedules were employed for initial and terminal links.
- Initial link durations were systematically varied across five groups of conditions.
- Data were analyzed using the generalized matching law.
Main Results:
- The generalized matching law effectively described the collected data.
- Sensitivity to terminal-link entry ratio increased with shorter initial-link duration, reaching an asymptote around 32 seconds.
- Response allocation bias remained stable, while time allocation bias slightly increased with longer shorter initial-link durations.
Conclusions:
- Initial link duration significantly modulates sensitivity to reinforcement in concurrent-chain schedules.
- The findings support the generalized matching law's applicability to complex choice behaviors.
- Differential effects of initial link duration on response versus time allocation were observed.
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