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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1985 May;43(3):407–417. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1985.43-407

Incentive theory: IV. Magnitude of reward

Peter R Killeen
PMCID: PMC1348151  PMID: 16812421

Abstract

Incentive theory is successfully applied to data from experiments in which the amount of food reward is varied. This is accomplished by assuming that incentive value is a negatively accelerated function of reward duration. The interaction of the magnitude of a reward with its delay is confirmed, and the causes and implications of this interaction are discussed.

Keywords: incentive theory, amount of reward, delay of reward, concurrent chained schedules, concurrent schedules, mathematical models, marginal utility

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Selected References

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