Effects of Magnitude on the Displacement of Leisure Items by Edible Items During Preference Assessments

Studies on preference assessments have shown that when both edible and leisure items are compared, edible items tend to displace leisure items in preference hierarchies. However, the mechanisms behind this process are currently unclear. One possibility is that displacement may be a product of the relatively brief periods of access to leisure items typically used in preference assessments. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine whether the duration of access to leisure items affects displacement. In this study, participants chose between preferred leisure items and the edible items that had previously been shown to displace those leisure items in a preference hierarchy. Duration of access to the leisure item was systematically increased across series to identify the magnitude at which leisure items became more preferred than edible items. Results indicate that as the duration of access to leisure items increases, displacement decreases.