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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Animal Cognition
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Self-control is often studied via simultaneous choices between smaller-sooner (SS) and larger-later (LL) rewards.
  • Patch-leaving tasks offer an alternative paradigm where staying or leaving determines reward acquisition.
  • Previous research indicates species differences in reward preference between these task types.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically replicate and investigate intertemporal choice behavior in pigeons using both binary-choice and patch-leaving tasks.
  • To examine the influence of reward magnitude, delay, and task structure on choice behavior.
  • To explore the underlying mechanisms, potentially involving conditioned reinforcement and win-stay biases.

Main Methods:

  • Six pigeons were tested in a binary-choice task and two patch-leaving tasks (Patch-L and Patch-S).
  • Reward delays were manipulated, with smaller-sooner (SS) delays ranging from 5 to 55 seconds and larger-later (LL) delays fixed at 60 seconds.
  • Variations included increased effort for staying and equal reward delays.

Main Results:

  • Pigeons consistently preferred the SS reinforcer in binary-choice conditions.
  • In patch-leaving tasks, pigeons preferred the LL reinforcer in Patch-L and the SS reinforcer in Patch-S, demonstrating a bias to stay.
  • This stay bias persisted even with increased effort or equal reward delays.

Conclusions:

  • Pigeons exhibit a stay bias in patch-leaving tasks, preferring to remain in a situation even when an immediate smaller reward is available.
  • This behavior may be explained by a win-stay bias and conditioned reinforcement, where the patch stimulus becomes associated with reward.
  • The findings challenge the economic equivalence of binary-choice and patch-leaving procedures and highlight context-dependent intertemporal choice mechanisms.