Recent work in reinforcement learning has demonstrated a choice preference for an option that has a lower probability of reward (A) when paired with an alternative option that has a higher probability of reward (C), if A has been experienced more frequently than C (the frequency effect). This finding is critical as it is inconsistent with…

The present study with college students examined the effect of amount on the discounting of probabilistic monetary rewards. A hyperboloid function accurately described the discounting of hypothetical rewards ranging in amount from $20 to $10,000,000. The degree of discounting increased continuously with amount of probabilistic reward. This effect…

A human social discount function measures the value to a person of a reward to another person at a given social distance. Just as delay discounting is a hyperbolic function of delay, and probability discounting is a hyperbolic function of odds-against, social discounting is a hyperbolic function of social distance. Experiment 1 obtained individual…

Attempts to characterize voluntary behavior have been ongoing for thousands of years. We provide experimental evidence that judgments of volition are based upon distributions of responses in relation to obtained rewards. Participants watched as responses, said to be made by "actors," appeared on a computer screen. The participant's task was to…

This paper reports on a study conducted to clarify issues involving reward effects in children's probability learning; specifically, the detrimental-effects-of-reward theory, and the utility and expectancy theories. Five event schedules in which the probabilistic versus partial reinforcement dimension was separated from the number of choices in…