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Procrastination by pigeons: preference for larger, more delayed work requirements

J E Mazur1

  • 1Psychology Department, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven 06515, USA.

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|January 1, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Pigeons demonstrated "procrastination" by choosing larger, delayed work requirements over smaller, immediate ones. This behavior persisted even when the delayed option was significantly more demanding, suggesting delay diminishes the impact of response costs.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral psychology
  • Animal cognition
  • Operant conditioning

Background:

  • Behavioral economics explores decision-making under delayed consequences.
  • Understanding choice behavior with response costs is crucial for predicting actions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate choice behavior in pigeons when faced with immediate versus delayed response requirements.
  • To determine if pigeons exhibit 'procrastination' by selecting larger, delayed work over smaller, immediate work.

Main Methods:

  • Pigeons chose between two schedules of reinforcement: one with a smaller ratio requirement early in a trial, and another with a larger ratio requirement later.
  • An adjusting-ratio procedure was used in two experiments to find the indifference point between the two alternatives.

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  • Reinforcers were delivered at the end of the trial, with delays preceding and following the ratio requirements in some experiments.

    • Main Results:

    • Pigeons consistently chose the larger, more delayed response requirement, a behavior termed 'procrastination'.
    • This preference for delayed, larger work was observed even when the delayed ratio was four times larger than the immediate option.
    • Increasing the delay to the start of a response requirement reduced its influence on choice, similar to how delayed reinforcers lose value.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings provide evidence for procrastination in pigeons, challenging simple models of immediate reward maximization.
    • Delay appears to function similarly for response costs as it does for reinforcer value, diminishing its impact on choice.
    • This research offers insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying delayed gratification and effort discounting.