Delay and Amount of Reward in a Concurrent Chain

Eight pigeons responded under a concurrent-chain schedule for rewards differing in both delay and amount, the larger reward being associated with the longer delay. Preference was examined as the absolute durations of the terminal-link delays were increased at four different delay ratios. Difficulties with other experiments of this type were controlled for by the use of (a) a single-tape initial link to equalize terminal-link entries, (b) a blackout following the more immediate reward to equalize terminal-link length, and (c) a photocell to measure reinforcer duration more accurately. Preference for the larger reward changed systematically as delays increased in all conditions, decreasing for the 6:1, 3:1, and 3:2 ratios, and increasing for the 1:1 ratio. These results were similar to, but significantly different from, those of previous investigations. The implications of these results for various models of concurrent-chain behavior are discussed.