Effects of the relative values of alternatives on choice preferences in humans
Item
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Title
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Effects of the relative values of alternatives on choice preferences in humans
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:540ae654ae9a:11453
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identifier
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11878
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Creator
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Rost, Kristen A.,
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Contributor
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Alicia M. Alvero
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Date
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2012
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Experimental psychology | Behavioral psychology | behavior analysis | choice | concurrent-chain | human subjects | preference
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Abstract
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Under concurrent-chains schedules of reinforcement, organisms often prefer conditions that allow selection among multiple alternatives (free-choice) to conditions that do not (forced-choice). Researchers have observed robust preferences for freedom of choice when all available alternatives in free- and forced-choice produce equally rewarding outcomes, or when free choice includes greater rewards than the forced-choice option. Choice preferences under concurrent-chains schedules are more varied, however, when free choice offers a mix of rewarding and aversive outcomes (e.g., Hayes, Kapust, Leonard, & Rosenfarb, 1981; Hori & Shimazaki, 2010). In the present study, a concurrent-chains procedure was used to examine human subjects' preferences when the alternatives in free-choice produced: (a) rewards equal to the forced-choice option, (b) rewards equal to and greater than the forced-choice option, and (c) rewards equal to the forced-choice option as well as relatively undesirable outcomes. Fourteen college undergraduates participated in one experimental session during which they gained or lost points for selecting images of cards on a computer screen. Participants selected between two sets of cards: a single-card set (forced-choice) and a three-card set (free-choice). A within-subjects design was used to evaluate preferences when one of the cards in the free-choice set was always equal in point value to the forced-choice card, and the remaining two cards were associated with point values equal to, greater than, or less than the forced-choice card. While it was always possible to obtain the same number of points across free- and forced-choice, preferences for free-choice decreased substantially as the number of points associated with two of the cards in free-choice were reduced. These results demonstrate that, in the context of a concurrent-chains procedure, choice preferences are a function of the outcomes associated with all available alternatives in the free-choice situation, and that the inclusion of aversive outcomes substantially diminishes preference for free-choice.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
