2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Experimental studies of social interactions in terms of social discounting
| Project/Area Number |
17530530
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Experimental psychology
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| Research Institution | Osaka City University |
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Principal Investigator |
ITO Masato Osaka City University, 大学院・文学研究科, Professor of Psychology (70106334)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | Social discounting / Shared rewards / Social dilemma / Game theory / Social order / Generalized matching law / Overmatching |
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| Research Abstract |
The present study investigated social interactions between two pigeons in terms of social discounting, Social discounting was defined by the decreases in the subjective value of shared rewards relative to that of unshared rewards. In the first part of the study, the processes of discounting were examined in a new experimental chamber in which shared and unshared feeding stations were located in the two sides of the chamber. Pigeons were trained to choose one of the two feeding stations under an adjusting amount procedure where the number of food pellets delivered in the unshared feeding station was varied depending on subjects choices in a previous trial, where the number of food pellets delivered in the shared feeding station was held constant An indifference point between the shared and unshared feeding stations was determined fir each pigeon as a function of the number of sharing pigeons. As a result, the discounting process was well described with both of hyperbolic and exponential
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functions. In the second part of the study, the process of discounting was examined by using a choice ratio. The number of sharing pigeons was varied from one to five pigeons. Choice ratios for the unshared feeding station were systematically varied as a function of the number of sharing pigeons, and the process of discounting represented by choice ratios were well described by the generalized matching law. In the third part of the study, social interactions between two pigeons were examined in a choice situation between shared and unshared feeding stations based on a pay-off matrix of the game theory. Several variables such as game structures (i.e., prisoner's dilemma and chicken), choice strategies (i.e., random and tit-for-tat), other players (i.e., computer and pigeon) as well as social order of other pigeons were examined. The present study clearly demonstrated that pigeons were sensitive to the differences in game structure, choice strategies, as well as social order of other pigeon. Less
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Research Products
(36 results)
