Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 15, 2026
11:20
Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning
Published on: June 2, 2014
12.5K
Adjusting delay to reinforcement: comparing choice in pigeons and humans
1State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes
|January 1, 1988
Summary
This study compared how pigeons and humans value delayed rewards, finding a modified hyperbolic model best describes both species' choices. This research advances understanding of reinforcement and decision-making across species.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral economics
- Comparative psychology
Background:
- Understanding how individuals value delayed rewards is crucial in behavioral economics.
- Previous models, including the matching law and hyperbolic models, have attempted to describe reinforcement functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare indifference functions for amount and delay of reinforcement in pigeons and humans.
- To evaluate the predictive accuracy of various reinforcement models, including hyperbolic and negative exponential functions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Mazur's (1987) adjusting delay procedure to assess choice behavior.
- Pigeons (Experiment 1) and humans (Experiments 2-3) were subjects, with human reinforcers discounted during delays.
Main Results:
- A modified hyperbolic model, specifically a power function transformation, best described the data from both pigeons and humans.
- This model, akin to the simple reciprocal model with a constant added to delays, showed superior fit across species.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a consistent mathematical framework for understanding delay discounting in both pigeons and humans.
- A power function transformation of the hyperbolic model offers a robust explanation for reinforcement valuation across species.
