An experimental analysis on the relation between reward value and choice behavior

Six undergraduate students were tested in a two choice situation, exposed to concurrent VI-VI schedules. For group 1-5, tokens earned by pressing the left button were exchanged for one yen, and tokens earned by pressing the right button were exchanged for five yen after the experiment. For group 3-2, tokens earned by pressing the left button were exchanged for three yen, and tokens earned by pressing the right button were exchanged for two yen. The results between log response ratio (time allocation ratio) and log reinforcement ratio were examined by linear regression analysis. The average value of the regression coefficient of group 1-5 was .795 (.832), and the average value of the groups intercept was -. 228 (-. 243). The average coefficient of group 3-2 was .524 (.590), and its average intercept was -. 033 (.021). The results of all subjects revealed undermatching. As for group 1-5, subjects preferred five yen about two times as often as one yen. In group 3-2, however, subjects didn't show a clear pattern of preference.