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Incentives and Reinforcement: A Behavioral Approach to Fertility
Author(s) -
Wiest William M.,
Squier Leslie H.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01762.x
Subject(s) - reinforcement , incentive , fertility , variety (cybernetics) , psychology , functional analysis , social psychology , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , computer science , economics , microeconomics , population , medicine , artificial intelligence , environmental health , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
A reinforcement analysis of fertility, emphasizing the principles of applied behavior analysis, shifts attention from response‐inferred constructs (beliefs, attitudes, wishes, and preferences) to manipulable environmental variables demonstrated to be functionally related to fertility behavior. The analysis suggests a variety of relevant target behaviors to be strengthened by setting up appropriate reinforcement contingencies (incentive systems). Attention is paid to the practical difficulties that are met in any effort to manipulate important reinforcers for large masses of people. It is concluded that a functional analysis offers both practically useful techniques and a powerful research paradigm; the analysis should facilitate efforts by governments and other social agencies to lower fertility.