A Waiting Game: Concurrent Chains with Equal Primary Reinforcement Open Access

Abstract

Concurrent chained schedules have long been used to simulate the concept of delayed reinforcement (Chung & Herrnstein, 1967; Fantino, 1969; Squires & Fantino, 1971). Classic models initially developed to predict behavior in these experiments consider the delay period in the context of overall rates of reinforcement to be the key element. These results have been replicated in humans with some discrepancies (Belke, Pierce, & Powell 1989). Older studies tested a very narrow range of interval values and only used scheduled interval values to test their predictions. The current study remedies these issues by including more schedules to improve the testing of models using observed human data. Schedules tested employed a feature used in previous studies, namely, an equal expected time to reinforcement is maintained across alternatives. Four models were tested using data collected from undergraduate psychology students, and were compared using information criteria. Older models that do not include free parameters (Fantino, 1969; Squires & Fantino 1971) accounted for no variation in the data. The data were best described by a modified delay reduction equation featuring a multiplicative relationship between the ratio of reinforcement rate and the ratio of delay reduction, sensitivity parameters for both ratios, and a bias parameter.

Keywords: concurrent chains, delay-reduction theory, delayed reinforcement

Table of Contents

Introduction …………...…………………………………………………………………………. 1

Method ……....……………………………………………………………………………………7

Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………….11

Results ...…………………………………………………………………………………………16

Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………….18

References ……………………………………………………………………………………….23

Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………...27

Tables ……………………………………………………………………………………………..29

Figure Captions …………………………………………………………………………………33

Figures …………………………………………………………………………………………...34

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Behavioral
Keyword	concurrent chains delayed reinforcement delay reduction
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Jack McDowell, Emory University
Committee Members	Bob Wyttenbach, Emory University Joseph Manns, Emory University

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