Pigeons' Preference for Variable‐interval Water Reinforcement Under Widely Varied Water Budgets

Case, David A.; Nichols, Paul L.; Fantino, Edmund

doi:10.1901/jeab.1995.64-299

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…In the earliest demonstration of this effect, Hermstein (1964) asked pigeons to choose between an outcome providing food reward on a fixed-interval (FI) 15-sec schedule in which reward occurred for the first response after 15-sec had elapsed and an outcome providing food on a variable-interval (VI) 15-sec schedule in which reward occurred for the first response after a variable period of time, averaging 15-sec. Herrnstein Such risk-preference with reinforcer-delay risk has been found despite differences in procedures, reinforcement schedules, types of reinforcement and the species under investigation (Aheam et al, 1992;Kacelnik, 1995, 1997;Case et al, 1995;Cicerone, 1976;Davison, 1969Davison, , 1972Frankel and Vom Saal, 1976;Gibbon et al, 1988;Hursh and Fantino, 1973;Kendall, 1987Kendall, , 1989Killeen, 1968;Logan, 1965;Morris, 1986;Navarick and Fantino, 1975;Pubols, 1962;Rider, 1983;Sherman and Thomas, 1968;Zabludoff et al, 1988).…”

Section: Choosing Between Certain and Variable Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Science of Decision-making: Behaviours Related to Gambling

Fantino

Navarro

O'Daly

2005

International Gambling Studies

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The behaviour analysis of decision-making has studied three realms of behaviour that play a role in gambling: risk taking, behavioural persistence and self-control. Research from our laboratory and others suggests that in all three areas, the manner in which choices are presented to subjects is of central importance. The paper argues that a behavioural perspective may be useful in understanding the factors controlling gambling and compares this perspective with one based on a cognitive orientation.

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Section: Choosing Between Certain and Variable Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Science of Decision-making: Behaviours Related to Gambling

Fantino

Navarro

O'Daly

2005

International Gambling Studies

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“…However, Equation 1 makes no provision for global variables such as economic context or resource availability. Indeed, at least two studies with concurrent chains found no effect of economic context upon choice (LaFiette & Fantino 1989;Case et. al.…”

Section: R E V I E W C O P Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic context and pigeons’ risk-taking: an integrative approach

Goldshmidt

Fantino

2004

Behavioural Processes

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The present work tested pigeons' (Columba livia) risk sensitivity to changes in resource availability in the concurrent-chains choice procedure. Subjects were provided choices, generally between variable-ratio (VR) and fixed-ratio (FR) outcome schedules with equal or different mean values. Predictions from ecology's risk sensitivity, behavioral economic's rate maximization, and psychology's delay-reduction theory were contrasted under settings where budget was adversely affected by one of three manipulations in seven experiments: (1) session length was dramatically reduced; (2) choice-phase duration was substantially increased by increasing the response requirements in the choice phase or (3) outcome duration was significantly increased by increasing the response requirements in the outcome phase while holding session length constant. Although preference measures were sensitive to every budget manipulation, the nature of the changes observed were dependent upon the manner in which resource availability was manipulated and the choice alternatives offered. For example, choice was affected in an opposite manner when budget was adversely altered by lengthening choice duration ("search time") as opposed to lengthening outcome duration ("handling time"). Findings revealed partial support for pigeons' sensitivity both to changes in budget and to changes in conditioned reinforcer value. The overall pattern of results thus favors an integrative approach to describing the effect of economic context on general risk sensitivity.

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“…As predicted by the matching law, the aggregate proportional response rates of the pigeon flock on the two response alternatives matched the proportional reinforcement rate associated with those alternatives. Analogous methods were reported by Case, Nichols, and Fantino (1995) to evaluate pigeons' preference for VI reinforcement under varied water budget arrangements. Finally, Hantula and Crowell (1994) showed that the matching law predicted response allocation on a computerized analogue investment task.…”

Section: Timothy R Vollmer and Jason Bourret University Of Floridamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Application of the Matching Law to Evaluate the Allocation of Two‐ and Three‐point Shots by College Basketball Players

Vollmer

Bourret

2000

J of App Behav Analysis

101

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We applied the matching equation to evaluate the allocation of two-and three-point shots by male and female college basketball players from a large Division 1 university. The matching law predicts that the proportion of shots taken from three-point range should match the proportional reinforcement rate produced by such shots. Thus, we compared the proportion of three-point shots taken relative to all shots to the proportion of three-point shots scored relative to all shots scored. However, the matching equation was adjusted to account for the greater reinforcer magnitude of the three-point basket (i.e., 1.5 times greater than the two-point basket reinforcer magnitude). For players with substantial playing time, results showed that the overall distribution of two-and threepoint shots was predicted by the matching equation. Game-by-game shot distribution was variable, but the cumulative proportion of shots taken from three-point range as the season progressed was predicted almost perfectly on a player-by-player basis for both male and female basketball players.DESCRIPTORS: athletic performance, basketball, matching law, sports, quantitative analysisThe matching law is a quantitative formulation stating that the relative rates of responding across two concurrently available alternatives tend to equal the relative reinforcement rates they produce (Catania, 1992). For example, if an animal receives food reinforcement for pressing Lever A on a variable-interval (VI) 30-s schedule and pressing Lever B on a VI 60-s schedule, the animal is likely to press Lever A twice as often as it presses Lever B (e.g., Herrnstein, 1961). This phenomenon is called matching (Herrnstein, 1961(Herrnstein, , 1970, and an equation representing the formulation can be expressed as follows:We thank Tony Nevin and the anonymous reviewers for their detailed recommendations about data presentation and analysis.Reprint requests can be sent to Timothy R. Vollmer, Psychology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.where R 1 represents the rate of responding on one response alternative and R 2 represents the rate of responding on a second alternative; r 1 and r 2 represent the respective rates of reinforcement for those alternatives. A large body of empirical research with humans and nonhumans has shown the robust descriptive validity of the matching equation. Further, the basic formulation is flexible enough to incorporate variables such as reinforcer delay, reinforcer magnitude, and response bias (Baum, 1974b;McDowell, 1989). In this study, we applied the equation to the allocation of two-and three-point basket shooting in college basketball players.Several studies have involved experimental manipulations of reinforcement rates to evaluate matching with human behavior in applied settings (Fisher & Mazur, 1997). For example, Conger and Killeen (1974) showed that allocation of conversation in college students was distributed in a manner proportional to the rate of reinforcement (positive reply statements) delivered by a confede...

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Pigeons' Preference for Variable‐interval Water Reinforcement Under Widely Varied Water Budgets

Cited by 23 publications

References 56 publications

The Science of Decision-making: Behaviours Related to Gambling

The Science of Decision-making: Behaviours Related to Gambling

Economic context and pigeons’ risk-taking: an integrative approach

An Application of the Matching Law to Evaluate the Allocation of Two‐ and Three‐point Shots by College Basketball Players

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