Zentall Thomas R
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506, United States.
Behav Processes. 2020 Sep;178:104139. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104139. Epub 2020 May 13.
The traditional view of human procrastination is that engaging in an aversive task will be avoided until the anxiety associated with the consequences of missing the deadline exceeds the aversiveness of the task. Delay reduction theory suggests that there may be an additional mechanism, conditioned reinforcement associated with completion of the task close to the deadline. The results of several experiments support this hypothesis. First, we found support for the prediction of delay reduction theory that pigeons given equally long concurrent chains, prefer a chain involving a long fixed interval followed by a short fixed interval (followed by reinforcement) over a chain involving a short fixed interval followed by a long fixed interval (followed by reinforcement). In another experiment, to simulate a mildly aversive event, we added a dark gap between the two links in each of the chains and found the same result. Finally, consistent with delay reduction theory and with an analog of human procrastination, in a long box, we found that pigeons preferred to complete a response requirement on a panel closer to the goal (reinforcement) rather than closer to the start. The results of these experiments suggest that procrastination may be supported by conditioned reinforcement associated completion of a task close to the deadline.
传统观点认为，人们会避免从事令人厌恶的任务，直到错过截止日期所带来的焦虑超过了该任务本身的厌恶程度。延迟减少理论表明，可能还存在另一种机制，即与接近截止日期完成任务相关的条件强化。多项实验结果支持了这一假设。首先，我们发现支持延迟减少理论的预测，即给鸽子同样长的并发链，它们更喜欢一条先有长固定间隔后接短固定间隔（然后强化）的链，而不是先有短固定间隔后接长固定间隔（然后强化）的链。在另一项实验中，为了模拟一个轻度厌恶事件，我们在每条链的两个环节之间添加了一个黑暗间隙，结果相同。最后，与延迟减少理论以及人类拖延行为的一个类似情况相一致，在一个长盒子里，我们发现鸽子更喜欢在靠近目标（强化）的面板上完成反应要求，而不是靠近起始端的面板。这些实验结果表明，拖延行为可能受到与接近截止日期完成任务相关的条件强化的支持。
