Effects of schedule type and terminal-link duration on choice in concurrent chains

Abstract

Four pigeons responded in a three-component concurrent chains procedure in which the terminal-link schedules were either both fixed-interval (FI FI), both variable-interval (VI VI), both mixed-interval (MI MI) or variable-interval fixed-interval (VI FI). Across components within sessions, overall terminal-link duration was varied while schedule types were varied across conditions. For the conditions with homogeneous schedules, the strongest preference was obtained with FI FI, intermediate with MI MI, and weakest with VI VI. Preference increased with overall terminal-link duration for all schedules, but the increase was more rapid for VI FI. The hyperbolic value-added model (HVA) and cumulative decision model (CDM) were fitted to the choice data and accounted for 83.9% and 76.1% of the variance, respectively. However, deviations from both models' predictions were systematic. A modification of the CDM, which assumed that reinforcers delivered after variable delays were more effective, improved the fit of the model and substantially reduced the systematic deviations in residuals. Comparable modifications of HVA produced only limited improvement. Results show that preference in concurrent chains with homogeneous terminal links depends on the degree of variability in reinforcer delays, and that the CDM can provide an excellent account of results across different terminal-link schedules.