Choice in a self-control paradigm: effects of reinforcer quality

1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R. King ◽  
A.W. Logue
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Reinforcer Quality

scholarly journals Reinforcer Quality and Self-Control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heather L Peters
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Matching Law ◽  
Self Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
Terminal Link ◽  
Impulsive Choice ◽  
Initial Link ◽  
Scaling Parameter ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Reinforcer Quality

<p>Self-control has been extensively studied using procedures in which subjects chose between two reinforcer alternatives. Traditionally, one of those alternatives delivers a small reinforcer after a short delay (SI), the other, a larger reinforcer after a long delay (LD). Choosing the SI is defined as impulsivity as it requires forfeit of the larger reinforcer; and choosing the LD is termed self-control. Four experiments were conducted to examine behaviour using non-human animal analogues of self-control situations. The subjects used for all four experiments were Norway-hooded rats. Experiment 1 used an SI - LD self-control paradigm to examine the effect of manipulating reinforcer quality on response distribution. Findings were that behaviour became more impulsive as the delay ratio became more extreme and this tendency was more systematic when different quality reinforcers were used for the SI and LD alternatives. Experiments 2 and 3 introduced a novel self-control paradigm designed as an analogue of choice situations in which individuals choose between two competing immediately available reinforcers each associated with a different delayed reinforcer. The procedure used was a concurrent-chains schedule that delivered primary reinforcement in the initial and the terminal links. The initial reinforcers were of equal amount and unequal quality; the terminal reinforcers were of unequal amount and equal quality. An impulsive choice was defined as choosing the alternative that delivered the most-valuable reinforcer in the initial link and the least-valued reinforcer in the terminal link. A self-controlled choice was defined as choosing the alternative that delivered the least-valuable reinforcer in the initial link and the most-valuable reinforcer in the terminal link. The results indicated that behaviour was more self-controlled when the terminal reinforcer quality was ethanol solution and increasing the delay between the initial and terminal links increased subjects' responding on the impulsive choice. Behaviour allocation in Experiment 3 was well described by the Contextual Choice Model (Grace, 1994) when the temporal context scaling parameter (k) was allowed to vary. Subjects that were relatively more impulsive had lower derived k values. The final experiment presented the subjects from Experiment 3 with concurrent variable interval (VI) VI schedules in which one alternative delivered plain-sucrose solution and the other ethanol-sucrose solution. Preference measures obtained from Experiment 4 were negatively correlated with the values obtained for the scaling parameter in Experiment 3, indicating that subjects which were more impulsive in the MN - ML paradigm had a stronger preference for ethanol. In summary, findings indicate that reinforcer quality may change the discriminability of reinforcer alternatives; and the influence of reinforcer quality on response allocation is well described by quantitative models based on the Matching Law.</p>

scholarly journals Reinforcer Quality and Self-Control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heather L Peters
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Matching Law ◽  
Self Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
Terminal Link ◽  
Impulsive Choice ◽  
Initial Link ◽  
Scaling Parameter ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Reinforcer Quality

<p>Self-control has been extensively studied using procedures in which subjects chose between two reinforcer alternatives. Traditionally, one of those alternatives delivers a small reinforcer after a short delay (SI), the other, a larger reinforcer after a long delay (LD). Choosing the SI is defined as impulsivity as it requires forfeit of the larger reinforcer; and choosing the LD is termed self-control. Four experiments were conducted to examine behaviour using non-human animal analogues of self-control situations. The subjects used for all four experiments were Norway-hooded rats. Experiment 1 used an SI - LD self-control paradigm to examine the effect of manipulating reinforcer quality on response distribution. Findings were that behaviour became more impulsive as the delay ratio became more extreme and this tendency was more systematic when different quality reinforcers were used for the SI and LD alternatives. Experiments 2 and 3 introduced a novel self-control paradigm designed as an analogue of choice situations in which individuals choose between two competing immediately available reinforcers each associated with a different delayed reinforcer. The procedure used was a concurrent-chains schedule that delivered primary reinforcement in the initial and the terminal links. The initial reinforcers were of equal amount and unequal quality; the terminal reinforcers were of unequal amount and equal quality. An impulsive choice was defined as choosing the alternative that delivered the most-valuable reinforcer in the initial link and the least-valued reinforcer in the terminal link. A self-controlled choice was defined as choosing the alternative that delivered the least-valuable reinforcer in the initial link and the most-valuable reinforcer in the terminal link. The results indicated that behaviour was more self-controlled when the terminal reinforcer quality was ethanol solution and increasing the delay between the initial and terminal links increased subjects' responding on the impulsive choice. Behaviour allocation in Experiment 3 was well described by the Contextual Choice Model (Grace, 1994) when the temporal context scaling parameter (k) was allowed to vary. Subjects that were relatively more impulsive had lower derived k values. The final experiment presented the subjects from Experiment 3 with concurrent variable interval (VI) VI schedules in which one alternative delivered plain-sucrose solution and the other ethanol-sucrose solution. Preference measures obtained from Experiment 4 were negatively correlated with the values obtained for the scaling parameter in Experiment 3, indicating that subjects which were more impulsive in the MN - ML paradigm had a stronger preference for ethanol. In summary, findings indicate that reinforcer quality may change the discriminability of reinforcer alternatives; and the influence of reinforcer quality on response allocation is well described by quantitative models based on the Matching Law.</p>

Reliability of a Multidimensional Locus of Control Construct for Older Adults Anticipating Transitions in Careers

1986 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 1007-1012
Author(s):  
Karen K. Prichard ◽  
Beverly M. Brown ◽  
Francis J. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Career Planning ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Factor Solution ◽  
College Age ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Three Factor

Reid and Ware in 1974 provided data on college-age adults which suggested that Rotter's locus of control paradigm might be better represented as a multidimensional construct. Using a varimax rotation, Reid and Ware reported a three-factor solution was parsimonious and tended to support a multidimensional model. The three factors were labeled Self-control, Social Systems Control, and Fatalism. In light of Super's 1983 view that the first stage of planning a career includes a component of autonomy or locus of control, Reid and Ware's multidimensional scale might prove useful for older adults undergoing transition in their careers. Since Reid and Ware's college undergraduates represented those in early career development, the present study was conducted with older adult individuals contemplating changes in career to determine the efficacy of the three-factor solution. Only two items did not coincide with Reid and Ware's factor structure. Implications for the application of a multidimensional locus of control scale to career-planning were discussed.

scholarly journals CHOICE IN A SELF-CONTROL PARADIGM: QUANTIFICATION OF EXPERIENCE-BASED DIFFERENCES

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Logue ◽  
Monica L. Rodriguez ◽  
Telmo E. Peña-Correal ◽  
Benjamin C. Mauro
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
Control Paradigm

Matching and maximizing in a self-control paradigm using human subjects

1990 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.W Logue ◽  
George R King ◽  
Adolfo Chavarro ◽  
Joseph S Volpe
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Paradigm

scholarly journals Behavioral effects of changeover delays in a concurrent-chains schedule with different delays and magnitudes of reinforcement

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elenice S. Hanna ◽  
Derek E. Blackman
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Ratio ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Delayed Reinforcement ◽  
Concurrent Chains ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Changeover Delay ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
Reversal Design ◽  
Condition B

The present study examined the effects of a changeover delay (COD) on the choice between smaller, shorter delayed reinforcement and larger, longer delayed reinforcement in a complex concurrent-chains schedule. Four pigeons were exposed to three conditions in an ABA or BAB reversal design. A COD of 2 seconds was included in the initial links during condition B. The concurrent-chains schedule had identical variable-interval schedules in the initial links and different delays and magnitudes of reinforcement that were programmed according to a fixed-ratio 10 (FR10) schedule in the terminal links. Each experimental condition lasted for two long sessions and five short sessions. Changeover rates were lower, and preference for the larger, longer delayed reinforcer was more pronounced during conditions with the programmed 2-second COD. The analysis of initial pauses and running rates during the FR10 schedules of the terminal links revealed no systematic effects of the COD on behavior in the terminal links. The COD had similar effects on choice performance in this modified concurrent-chain procedure as on simple concurrent performance.Keywords: Choice behavior, concurrent-chains, COD, self-control paradigm, pigeons.

scholarly journals Choices between segmented and unsegmented schedules and the self-control paradigm

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Jérôme Alessandri ◽  
Kennon A. Lattal ◽  
Edmund Fantino
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Paradigm
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