An account of human “impulsivity” on self-control tasks

Three experiments examined the effects of economic constraint (time restriction—trials restriction) on adult humans' performance on concurrent chained schedules of reinforcement in which terminal links differed both in reward size and pre-reward delay levels. In the first, terminal links offered a long delay (20, 30, 40, 50 sec) followed by 2 points, or a short delay (10 sec) followed by 1 point. Initial links consisted of the same variable interval schedules for each alternative. Subjects showed a conditional sensitivity to increases in delay. Under a time constraint, there was an increasing preference for the smaller reward as the delay to the larger reward was increased, whereas under a trials constraint subjects were totally insensitive to such changes. In the second experiment, this finding was replicated using long and short periods of video game playing as large and small rewards. In the third experiment terminal link parameters remained constant (2 points after 15 sec, or 1 point immediately), but initial link parameters were manipulated (either VI 1-sec, 8-sec, or 20-sec) so that the higher relative rate of reward shifted from being associated with the small reward to being associated with the large reward. Again subjects chose differently under the two constraints. Subjects under the time constraint exhibited a preference for the small reward at all levels of initial link, but under the trials constraint subjects preferred the large reward. Subjects in the time constraint condition thus exhibited a maladaptive insensitivity to changes in the initial link duration. These findings are interpreted as supporting a miscalculation rather than a discounting interpretation of human performance on “self-control” tasks.     

Differential Motivating Factors Among Intrapreneurial and Traditional Managers?: A Look At The Influence Of Reward Systems and Structures On Performance Among Intrapreneurial and Traditional Managers

ABSTRACT This paper examines the influence of rewards and structures on the performance of managers in positions defined as intrapreneurial and those defined as traditional managerial. Results indicated that financially oriented rewards and loosely coupled structures more strongly influenced the performance of intrapreneurial managers than the performance of traditional managers. The findings suggest that such measures may be key ingredients to enhance organizational environment.     

Ambiguity in 3-D patterns induced by lighting assumptions

A bistable pattern is shown with white and black bars with horizontal and vertical orientations which produce an impression of thin slabs stacked up in depth either toward or away from the observer. It is postulated that the ambiguity is induced by the observer's assumption of the direction of the light source.