4.2 Article

Pigeons prefer to invest early for future reinforcers

Journal

JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR
Volume 115, Issue 3, Pages 650-666

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/jeab.687

Keywords

response investment; precurrent behavior; future control; stimulus control; pigeons

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study showed that pigeons tended to make investing responses at the beginning of a trial, even when the consequences were temporally and spatially distant.
Five pigeons were trained in a series of conditions in which food was delivered after 25 responses, but only when a different (Investing) response had been made before the 25 responses had been completed. If an Investing response was not made, the 25 responses ended in blackout. In various conditions, effective Investing responses either had to be made before the first of the 25 responses, or anywhere within the 25 responses; and effective Investing responses either resulted in a stimulus change or did not. Pigeons Invested even when the consequences were temporally and spatially distant, but Investing was most likely when it produced an immediate stimulus change. When given the choice, pigeons preferred to make Investing responses at the beginning of a trial. These findings again demonstrate that behavior may be maintained by events that are separated in time and space from the present.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.2
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available