| Abstract: | Social traps, such as the overgrazing of pasturelands, overpopulation, and the extinction of species, are situations where individuals in a group respond for their own advantage in a manner damaging to the group. A laboratory analog was devised to simulate conditions that produce social traps. The traps were constructed by superimposing schedules of reinforcement. Single responses were followed by multiple consequences which were opposite in valence, with the negative consequence delayed. Subjects in groups of three could respond individually for points that applied toward class credit. Each ten presses of a button added one point to the subject's total and subtracted one point from a common pool. The pool was replenished with points at fixed rates. If subjects responded for points faster than the replenishment rates, the pool would empty and the experiment would terminate before subjects could accumulate maximum credit. In addition, the maximum pool size and the ability to communicate were varied. Main effects were found for both, which indicated the least effective resource management occurred when the pool was small and no communication allowed. An analysis of cumulative records showed differing response patterns across conditions. |
