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BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS AND BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM
Author(s) -
Nevin John A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1995.64-385
Subject(s) - reinforcement , behavioral economics , operant conditioning , momentum (technical analysis) , econometrics , bundle , economics , elasticity (physics) , psychology , price elasticity of demand , reinforcement learning , microeconomics , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , physics , financial economics , materials science , composite material , thermodynamics
Some relations between elasticity of demand and the conditions of reinforcement are reanalyzed in terms of resistance to change, in ways suggested by the metaphor of behavioral momentum; some relations between resistance to change and the conditions of reinforcement are reanalyzed in terms of elasticity of demand, in ways suggested by behavioral economics. In addition, some data on labor supply in relation to variable‐ratio schedules and alternative reinforcement are reanalyzed in terms of resistance to change and compared with steady‐state resistance data for performance on multiple and concurrent interval schedules. The results of these studies can be summarized by two functions based on the behavioral momentum approach, relating relative behavioral mass to relative reinforcement per response or per unit time. The former is a relation between relative unit price and relative behavioral mass, suggesting the possibility of convergent measurement of a theoretical construct common to both approaches. However, the momentum and economic approaches differ fundamentally on whether it is preferable to construe discriminated operant behavior as selected and strengthened by its consequences or as part of a behavior‐consequence bundle that maximizes utility.