Examining the Constant Difference Effect in a Concurrent Chains Procedure

Abstract

According to the constant difference effect (Savastano & Fantino, 1996), preference for the shorter link in a pair of terminal links should be the same as for the shorter link of another pair of terminal links, given that the absolute difference between the two terminal links is constant. Hyperbolic Delay Discounting (Mazur & Biondi, 2009; see also Mazur, 2002) asserts that preference for the shorter link should decrease hyperbolically. The current experiment examined these models using pigeons as subjects in a concurrent chains experiment, with equal initial links of VI 30 s and terminal links of VI 10 s vs VI 30 s, VI 30 s vs VI 50 s, and VI 50 s vs VI 70 s. Results supported the Hyperbolic Delay Discounting model.