Delay discounting in pigeons using a token reinforcement system
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Resumen
Delay discounting is the decrease of the value of a reward due to a delay
in its receipt. "e results with human and non-human animals have
shown several similarities, but there have also been consistent differences.
In order to further explore the sources of these differences, we used
a token reinforcement system to evaluate delay discounting in pigeons
with a procedure more similar to the ones used with humans. Pigeons
were exposed to an adjusting amount task with tokens as rewards. In
Phases 1 and 3, tokens were exchangeable immediately after its receipt
in each trial, whereas in Phase 2, tokens were exchangeable after four
trials. The results of Phases 1 and 3 showed a pa$ern of discounting
similar to previous studies, whereas subjects showed a greater degree
of discount in Phase 2 in comparison to the other phases. We argue the
greater degree of discount might be due to the accumulation of tokens
and the actual delay to the food.