DO ADJUSTING-AMOUNT AND ADJUSTING-DELAY PROCEDURES PRODUCE EQUIVALENT ESTIMATES OF SUBJECTIVE VALUE IN PIGEONS?

The current experiment examined whether adjusting‐amount and adjusting‐delay procedures provide equivalent measures of discounting. Pigeons' discounting on the two procedures was compared using a within‐subject yoking technique in which the indifference point (number of pellets or time until re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Vol. 87; no. 3; pp. 337 - 347
Main Authors: Green, Leonard, Myerson, Joel, Shah, Anuj K., Estle, Sara J., Holt, Daniel D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2007
Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Inc
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
adjusting amount
adjusting delay
Animal Behavior
Animals
Apathy
Behavior, Animal
Birds
Columbidae
Comparative Analysis
Delay of Gratification
Delayed
Discounting
Estimates
Experiments
hyperbolic function
key peck
Mathematical functions
Measurement
pigeons
Reinforcement
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Reward
Rewards
subjective value
Subjectivity
ISSN:0022-5002, 1938-3711, 0022-5002
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The current experiment examined whether adjusting‐amount and adjusting‐delay procedures provide equivalent measures of discounting. Pigeons' discounting on the two procedures was compared using a within‐subject yoking technique in which the indifference point (number of pellets or time until reinforcement) obtained with one procedure determined the value of the corresponding variable in the yoked condition with the other procedure. Behavior on each procedure was well described by a hyperbolic discounting function. Results revealed no systematic differences in the degree of discounting as measured by the discounting rate parameter of the hyperbola in Experiment 1, which used 20‐mg pellets. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 using smaller, 14‐mg pellets, which potentially yield more precise measurement of indifference points on the adjusting‐amount procedure. The finding that estimates of the k parameter in the hyperbolic discounting function obtained with one procedure did not differ systematically from estimates obtained from the same subjects with the other procedure represents strong support for the hypothesis that the same process underlies the discounting of delayed rewards on both adjusting‐amount and adjusting‐delay procedures.
Bibliography:istex:0ECEFBEC3558F29B77C2B3DF0A4A4B663102DD1E
ark:/67375/WNG-FVLN2QF7-2
ArticleID:JEAB3690
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0022-5002
1938-3711
0022-5002
DOI:10.1901/jeab.2007.37-06