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Effects Of Temporal Clumping And Payoff Accumulation On Impulsiveness And Cooperation, David W. Stephens, Colleen M. Mclinn, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Animals show impulsiveness when they prefer a smaller more immediate option, even though a larger more delayed option produces a higher intake rate. This impulsive behavior has implications for several behavioral problems including social cooperation. This paper presents two experiments using captive blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) that consider the effects of payoff accumulation and temporal clumping on impulsiveness and cooperation. Payoff accumulation refers to a situation where the benefits gained from each choice trial accumulate from one trial to the next, and only become available to the animal after it has completed a fixed number of trials. We …