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Related Experiment Videos

Token reinforcement, choice, and self-control in pigeons

K Jackson1, T D Hackenberg

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, USA. hack@webb.psych.ufl.edu

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

Pigeons demonstrated self-control by choosing delayed rewards, indicating that the delay to accessing rewards (exchange period) is more influential than the delay in receiving tokens (LEDs). This suggests tokens act as conditioned reinforcers in decision-making.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral psychology
  • Animal cognition
  • Operant conditioning

Background:

  • Self-control is a fundamental aspect of decision-making, involving the choice between immediate smaller rewards and delayed larger rewards.
  • Understanding the factors influencing self-control in non-human animals provides insights into the underlying mechanisms.
  • Token reinforcement procedures are commonly used to study self-control, but the relative importance of token delay versus reward access delay is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate pigeons' self-control choices under varying conditions of token presentation delay and reward access delay.
  • To determine the relative influence of token delay versus exchange-period delay on choice behavior.
  • To explore the role of tokens as conditioned reinforcers in self-control.

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Main Methods:

  • Pigeons were exposed to discrete-trials procedures where they chose between immediate or delayed light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as token reinforcers.
  • Each LED was exchangeable for food access during post-trial exchange periods.
  • Experiments systematically varied the delays to LED presentation and the delays to the subsequent food exchange period.

Main Results:

  • Pigeons generally preferred immediate single LEDs over delayed three LEDs when exchange periods were different.
  • When delays to the exchange period were equalized, pigeons increasingly preferred the delayed three LEDs.
  • Preference for delayed rewards was influenced by the immediacy of the reward exchange period, with quicker access favoring immediate options.

Conclusions:

  • Delay to the reward exchange period is a more critical determinant of self-control choice in pigeons than delay to token presentation.
  • Tokens likely function as conditioned reinforcers, potentially mediating self-control through their discriminative properties.
  • Differences in human and pigeon self-control findings may stem from procedural variations in token versus direct food reinforcement.