Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-nwzlb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T19:45:45.173Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Maximization theory in behavioral psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Howard Rachlin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, N. Y. 11794
Ray Battalio
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Texas ASM University, College Station, Texas 77843
John Kagel
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Leonard Green
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. 63130

Abstract

Maximization theory, which is borrowed from economics, provides techniques for predicing the behavior of animals - including humans. A theoretical behavioral space is constructed in which each point represents a given combination of various behavioral alternatives. With two alternatives - behavior A and behavior B - each point within the space represents a certain amount of time spent performing behavior A and a certain amount of time spent performing behavior B. A particular environmental situation can be described as a constraint on available points (a circumscribed area) within the space. Maximization theory assumes that animals always choose the available point with the highest numerical value. The task of maximization theory is to assign to points in the behavioral space values that remain constant across various environmental situations; as those situations change, the point actually chosen is always the one with the highest assigned value.

Maximization theory is an alternative to reinforcement theory as a description of steady-state behavior. Situations to which reinforcement theory has been directly applied (such as reinforcement of rats pressing levers and pigeons pecking keys in Skinner boxes) and situations to which reinforcement theory has occasionally been extended (such as human economic behavior and human self-control) can be described by maximization theory. This approach views behavior as a quantitative outcome of the interaction of the putative instrumental response, the reinforcer, and the other activities available in the situation. It provides new insight into these situations and, because it takes context into account, has greater predictive power than reinforcement theory.

Type
Target Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, J. (1976) Contrast, induction, facilitation, suppression, and conservation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 25:185–98. [SEGL. HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allison, J. (1979) Demand economics and experimental psychology. Behavioral Science 24:403–15. [SEGL, HR]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, J. (1980) Paired baseline performance as a behavioral ideal. Manuscript submitted for publication. [JA]Google Scholar
Allison, J. (in press) Economics and operant conditioning. In: Advances in analysis of behaviour, vol. 2: Predictability. correlation a contiguity, ed. Harzem, P. & Zeiler, M.. Chichester, England: Wiley. [JA]Google Scholar
Allison, J. & Boulter, P. (1980) Wage rate, nonlabor income, and labor supply in rats. Manuscript submitted for publication. [JA]Google Scholar
Allison, J., Miller, M. & Wozny, M. (1979) Conservation in behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 108:434. [JA]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alitor, S. M. (1969) The strength of conditioned reinforcers as a function of frequency and probability of reinforcement. In: Conditioned reinforcement, ed. Hendry, D., pp. 127–62. Homewood. Ill.: Dorsey. [WMB]Google Scholar
Bacotti, A. V. (1977) Matching under concurrent fixed-ratio variable-interval schedules of food presentation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 27:171–82. [WMB]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Battalio, R. C., Green, L. & Kagel, J. H. (in press) "Income-leisure tradeoffs of animal workers." American Economic Review. [HR]Google Scholar
Battalio, R. C., Kagel, J. H. & Green, L. (1979) "Labor supply behavior of animal workers: Towards an experimental analysis." In: Research in experimental economics, ed. Smith, V. L.. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press. [HR]Google Scholar
Battalio, R. C., Kagel, J. H., Rachlin, H. & Green, L. (1981) "Commodity choice behavior with pigeons as subjects. Journal of Political Economy 89:6791. [HR]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, W. M. (1973) The correlation based law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 20:137–53. [HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baum, W. M. (1974) On two types of deviation from the matching law: Bias and undermatching. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 22:231–42. [RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Baum, W. M. (1979) Matching, undermatching, and overmatching in studies of choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 32:269–81. [WMB, RJH]Google Scholar
Baum, W. M. & Rachlin, H. C. (1969) Choice as time allocation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 12:861–74. [AIH]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Becker, G. S. (1962) Irrational behavior and economic theory. Journal of Political Economy 70:113. [MCK]Google Scholar
*Becker, G. S. (1973) A theory of marriage, part I. Journal of Political Economy 81:813–46. [MCK]Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. (1976) The economic approach to human behavior. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. [MCK]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bentham, J. (1789) An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. Reprinted in The Utilitarians New York: Doubleday & Co. [RJH]Google Scholar
Bernstein, D. J. & Ebbesen, E. B. (1974) The effects of substitution patterns on the necessary conditions for reinforcement in humans. Paper presented to Midwestern Psychological Association. [HR]Google Scholar
Blau, Peter (1964) Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. [HKS]Google Scholar
Buck, S. L., Rothstein, B. & Williams, B. A. (1975) A reexamination of local contrast in multiple schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 24:291301. [HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, R. & Herrnstein, R. J. (1975) Psychology. Boston: Little, Brown. [RJH]Google Scholar
Brownstein, A. J. & Pliskoff, S. S. (1968) Some effects of relative reinforcement rate and changeover delay in response-independent concurrent schedules of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 11:683–88. [AIH]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catania, A. C. (1973) Self-inhibiting effects of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 19:517–26. [HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catania, A. C. (1979) Learning. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall. [RJH]Google Scholar
Catania, A. C. & Reynolds, G. S. (1968) A quantitative analysis of the responding maintained by interval schedules of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 11:327–83. [RJH. HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chomsky, N. (1968) Language and mind. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. [HKS]Google Scholar
Collier, G. (1977) Optimal feeding strategies in animals: Laboratory simulation. Paper presented at the meetings of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston. [EJF]Google Scholar
Collier, G., Hirsch, E. & Hamlin, P. (1972) The ecological determinants of reinforcement in the rat. Physiology and Behavior 9:705–16. [JA, EJF]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collier, G., Hirsch, E. & Kanarek, R. (1977) The operant revisited. In: Handbook of operant behavior, ed. Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R., pp. 2852. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [NR]Google Scholar
Curry, R. L. Jr & Wade, L. L. (1968) A theory of political exchange. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [HKS]Google Scholar
de Villiers, P. A. (1977) Choice in concurrent schedules and a quantitative formulation of the law of effect. In: Handbook of operant behavior, ed. Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R., pp. 233–87. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [RJH, JCL, HR]Google Scholar
de Villiers, P. A. & Herrnstein, R. J. (1976) Toward a law of response strength. Psychological Bulletin 83:1131–53. [RJH]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W. E. (1974) "Applications of duality theory." In: Frontiers of quantitative economics, vol. 2, ed. Intriligator, M. D. & Kendrick, D. A.. Amsterdam: North Holland. [HR]Google Scholar
Falk, J. L. (1967) Control of schedule-induced polydipsia: Type, size, and spacing of meals. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 10:199206. [HR]Google Scholar
Fantino, E. (1969) Conditional reinforcement, choice, and the psychological distance to reward. In: Conditioned reinforcement, ed. Hendry, D. P.. Homewood, Ill: Dorsey Press. [HR]Google Scholar
Falk, J. L. (1977) Conditioned reinforcement: Choice and information. In: Handbook of Operant Behavior, ed. Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R.. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [HR]Google Scholar
Fantino, E. & Logan, C. A. (1979) The experimental analysis of behavior: A biological perspective. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. [EJF, RJH]Google Scholar
Ferster, C. B. (1978) Is operant conditioning getting bored with behavior? A review of Honig & Staddon's Handbook of operant behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 29:347–49. [JCL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferster, C. B. & Skinner, B. F. (1957) Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. [JCL, HR]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, M. (1953) The methodology of positive economics. In: Essays in positive economics, ed. Friedman, M., pp. 343. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [HKS]Google Scholar
Friedman, M. (1957) A theory of the consumption function. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. [MCK]Google Scholar
Chez, G. R. & Becker, G. S. (1975) The allocation of time and goods over the life-cycle. Human Behavior and Social Institutions, No. 6. New York: Columbia University Press. [MCK]Google Scholar
Gibbon, J. (1977) Scalar expectancy theory and Weber's law in animal timing. Psychological Review 84:279325. [HR]Google Scholar
Green, L. & Green, J. K. (1979) The effect of deprivation level on labor supply in pigeons. Paper delivered at Association for Behavior Analysis meeting, Dearborn, Mich. [HR]Google Scholar
Green, L., Kagel, J. H. & Battalio, R. C. (in press) Ratio schedules of reinforcement and their relationship to economic theories of labor supply. In: Quantitative analysis of behavior, vol. 2, ed. Herrnstein, R. J. & Rachlin, H.. Cambridge. Mass.: Ballinger. [EJF. MCK, HR]Google Scholar
Green, L. & Snyderman, M. (1980) Choice between rewards differing in amount and delay: Toward a choice model of self-control. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 34:135–48. [HR]Google Scholar
Griffin, D. R. (1978) Prospects for a cognitive ethology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1:527–38. [HR]Google Scholar
Griliches, Z. (1967) Distributed lags: A survey. Econometrica 35:1649. [MCK]Google Scholar
Hader, J. (1971) Mathematical theory of economic behavior. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. [HR]Google Scholar
Halliday, M. S. & Boakes, R. A. (1972) Discrimination involving response-independent reinforcement: Implications for behavioural contrast. In: Inhibition and learning, ed. Boakes, R. A. & Halliday, M. S., pp. 7395. New York: Academic Press. [WMB]Google Scholar
Harlow, H. F. (1950) Analysis of discrimination learning by monkeys. Journal of Experimental Psychology 40:2639. [HR]Google Scholar
Heckman, J. J. (1976) A life-cycle model of earnings, learning, and consumption. Journal of Political Economy 84:511–68. [MCK]Google Scholar
Henderson, J. & Quandt, R. E. (1980) Microeconomic theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. [HSR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1961) Relative and absolute strength of response as a function of frequency of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 4:267–72. [HR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1964) Secondary reinforcement and the rate of primary reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 7:2736. [WMB, HR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1969) Method and theory in the study of avoidance. Psychological Review 76:4969. [HR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1970) On the law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 13:243–66. (WMB, RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1971) Quantitative hedonism. Journal of Psychiatric Research 8:399412. [RJH]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1974) Formal properties of the matching law. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 21:159–64. [RJH]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1977) The evolution of behaviorism. American Psychologist 32:593603. [RJH]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. (1979) Derivatives of matching. Psychological Review 86:486–95. [RJH]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. & Heyman, G. M. (1979) Is matching compatible with reinforcement maximization on concurrent variable interval, variable ratio? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 31:209–23. [WMB, RJH. HR]Google Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J. & Loveland, D. H. (1975) Maximizing and matching on concurrent ratio schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 24:107–16. [JA, RJH]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrnstein, R. J. & Vaughan, W. (1980) Melioration and behavioral allocation. In: Limits to action: The allocation of individual behavior, ed. Staddon, J. E. R.. pp. 143–76. New York: Academic Press. [WMB, RJH, HR, WV]Google Scholar
Heymun, G. M. & Luce, R. D. (1979) Operant matching is not a logical consequence of maximizing reinforcement rate. Animal Learning and Behavior 7:133–40. [AIH, RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Hillner, K. P. (1979) Conditioning in contemporary perspective. New York: Springer. [RJH]Google Scholar
Hineline, P. N. (1970) Negative reinforcement without shock reduction. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 14:259–68. [PRK]Google Scholar
Hineline, P. N. (1977) Negative reinforcement and avoidance. In: Handbook of operant behavior, ed. Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R.. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [HR]Google Scholar
Hollard, V., & Davison, M. C. (1971) Preference for qualitatively different reinforcers. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 16:375–80. [HR]Google Scholar
Honiara, G. (1958) "Social behavior as exchange." American Journal of Sociology 63:597606. [HKS]Google Scholar
Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R. (1977) Handbook of operant behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. [HR]Google Scholar
Houston, A. I. (1980) Godzilla v. the creature from the black lagoon - ethology v. psychology. In: The analysis of motivational processes, ed. Toates, F. M. & Halliday, T. R., pp. 297318. London: Academic Press. [AIH]Google Scholar
Houston, A. I. & McFarland, D. J. (1980) Behavioral resilience and its relation to demand functions. In: Limits to action, ed. Staddon, J. E. R., pp. 177200. New York: Academic Press. [AIH]Google Scholar
Houston, A. I. & McNamara, J. (in press) How to maximize reward rate on two VI paradigms. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. [AIH]Google Scholar
Hull, C. L. (1943) Principles of behavior. New York: Appleton-Century. [HR]Google Scholar
Hursh, S. R. (1978) The economics of daily consumption controlling food- and water-reinforced responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 29:475–91. [EJF. RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Hursh, S. R. (1980) Economic concepts for the analysis of behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 34:219–38. [RJH]Google Scholar
Hursh, S. R. (1980) Economics and behavior analysis. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 2:219–38. [EJF. HR]Google Scholar
Hursh, S. R. & Natelson, B. J. (in press) Electrical brain stimulation and food reinforcement dissociated by demand elasticity. Physiology and Behavior. [RJH]Google Scholar
Jamison, E. & Premack, D. (1970) Choice and habituation as measures of response similarity. Journal of Experimental Psychology 85:3035. [HR]Google Scholar
Johnston, T.D. (1981) Contrasting approaches to a theory of learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4:125173. [HR]Google Scholar
Kagel, J. H., Battalio, R. C., Green, L. & Rachlin, H. (1980) Consumer demand theory applied to choice behavior of rats. In: Limits to action: The allocation of individual behavior, ed. Staddon, J. E. R.. New York: Academic Press. [HR]Google Scholar
Kagel, J. H., Battalio, R. C., Green, L. & Rachlin, H. (1981) Demand curves for animal consumers. Quarterly Journal of Economics 46:116. [HR]Google Scholar
Keeley, M. C. (1981, in press) Labor supply and public policy: A critical review. New York: Academic Press. [MCK]Google Scholar
Keeley, M. C. & Wai, H. S. (1980) Labor supply response to a permanent negative income tax program. Unpublished SRI research memo. [MCK]Google Scholar
Keeley, M. C., Robins, P. K., Spiegelman, R. G. & West, R. W. (1978) The estimation of labor supply models using experimental data. The American Economic Review 68:873–87. [MCK]Google Scholar
Kershaw, D. & Fair, J. (1976) The New Jersey income-maintenance experiment. New York: Academic Press. [HR]Google Scholar
Killeen, P. (1972) A yoked-chamber comparison of concurrent and multiple schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 18:1322. [HR]Google Scholar
Krebs, J. R. & Davies, N. B. (eds.) (1978) Behavioral ecology: An evolutionary approach. Oxford: Blackwell. [HR]Google Scholar
Krupp, S. R. (1966) "Types of controversies in economics." In: The structure of economic science. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [HKS]Google Scholar
Kuhn, T. S. (1962) The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [SJH]Google Scholar
Lancaster, K. (1966) A new approach to consumer theory. Journal of Political Economy 74:132–57. [HR]Google Scholar
Lave, C. A. & March, J. G. (1975) An introduction to models in the social sciences. New York: Harper and Row. [HKS]Google Scholar
Lea, S. E. G. (1978) The psychology and economics of demand. Psychological Bulletin 85:441–66. [HR]Google Scholar
Lea, S. E. G. (1979) Foraging and reinforcement schedules in the pigeon: Optimal and non-optimal aspects of choice. Animal Behavior 27:875–86. [EJF]Google Scholar
Lea, S. E. G. (1981) Concurrent fixed-ratio schedules for different reinforcers: A general theory. In: Quantification of steady-sate operant behavior, ed., Bradshaw, C. M., Szabadi, E. & Lowe, C. F., pp. 101–14. Amsterdam: Elsevier. [AIH]Google Scholar
Lea, S. E. G. & Roper, T. J. (1977) Demand for food in fixed-ratio schedules as a function of the quality of concurrently available reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 27:371–80. [JA]Google Scholar
Le Magnen, J. (1971) Advances in studies on the physiological control and regulation of food intake. In: Progress in physiological psychology, vol. 4, ed. Stellar, E. & Sprague, J. M. pp. 203261. New York: Academic Press. [NR]Google Scholar
Leslie, J. C. (1981) Effects of variations in local reinforcement rate on local response rate in variable interval schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 35:4353. [JCL]Google Scholar
Lewin, K. (1938) The conceptual representation and measurement of psychological forces. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. [HR]Google Scholar
Lipsey, R. G. & Steiner, P. O. (1975) Economics. New York: Harper and Row. [HSR]Google Scholar
Lobb, B. & Davison, M. C. (1977) Performance in concurrent interval schedules: A systematic replication. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 27:371–80. [HR]Google Scholar
Loeb, J. (1918) Forced movements, tropisms and animal conduct. Philadelphia: Lippincott. [HR]Google Scholar
Logan, F. A. (1960) Incentive. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. [HR]Google Scholar
McFarland, D. J. (1974) Experimental investigation of motivational state. In: Motivational control systems analysis, ed. McFarland, D. J., pp. 251–82. London: Academic Press. [NR]Google Scholar
McFarland, D. J. (1977) Decision-making in animals. Nature 269:1521. [AIH]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwine, A. & Collier, G. (1979) The rat at the waterhole. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 93:391402. [JA, NR]Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1978) Optimization theory in evolution. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9:3156. [AIH]Google Scholar
Mazur, J. (1979) The value-averaging model: An alternative to "conservation in behavior." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 108:4347. [RJH]Google Scholar
Mazur, J. E. & Logue, A. W. (1978) Choice in a "self-control" paradigm: Effects of a fading procedure. Journal of the Experimental Anaysis of Behavior. 30:1118. [HR]Google Scholar
Meehl, P. E. (1950) On the circularity of the law of effect. Psychological Bulletin 47:5275. [HR]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Metcalf, C. E. (1973) Making inferences from controlled income maintenance experiments. American Economic Review 153:478–83. [MCK]Google Scholar
Miller, H. L. Jr. (1976) Matching-based hedonic scaling in the pigeon. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 26:335–47. [RJH]Google Scholar
Miller, N. E. (1959) Liberalization of basic S-R concepts: Extensions to conflict behavior, motivation and social learning. In: Psychology: A study of a science, vol. 2, ed. Koch, S.. New York: McGraw-Hill. [HR]Google Scholar
Miller, N. E. (1967) Behavioral and physiological techniques: Rationale and experimental designs for combining their use. In: Handbook of physiology, section 6, vol. 1, ed. Code, C. F., pp. 5161. Washington. D.C.: American Physiological Society. [NR]Google Scholar
Mischel, W. (1958) Preference for delayed reinforcement: An experimental study of a cultural observation. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 56:5761. [HR]Google Scholar
Moffitt, R. & Kehrer, K. (1981 in press) The effect of tax and transfer programs on labor supply: The evidence from the income maintenance experiments. In: Research in labor economics, ed. Ehrenberg, R.. Greenwich, Conn: JAI Press. [RAM]Google Scholar
Mogenson, G. J. & Phillips, A. G. (1976) Motivation: A psychological construct in search of a physiological substrate. In: Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology, vol. 6, ed. Sprague, J. M. & Epstein, A. N., pp. 189243. New York: Academic Press. [NR]Google Scholar
Morse, W. H. & Kelleher, R. T. (1970) Schedules as fundamental determinants of behavior. In: The theory of reinforcement schedules, ed. Schoenfeld, W. N., pp. 139–85. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [JCL]Google Scholar
Motheral, M. S. & Staddon, J. E. R. (1980) Optimal allocation of behavior: Ratio and interval schedules. Paper presented at the meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis. [MSM]Google Scholar
Myers, D. L. & Myers, L. E. (1977) Undermatching: A reappraisal of performance on concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 25:203–14. [RJH]Google Scholar
Neuringer, A. J. (1969) Delayed reinforcement versus reinforcement after a fixed interval. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 12:375–83. [WMB]Google Scholar
Nevin, J. A. (1979) Overall matching versus momentary matching: Nevin (1969) revisited. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 5:300–06. [JCL]Google Scholar
Nevin, J. A. & Baum, W. M. (1980) Feedback functions for variable-interval reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 2:207–18. [AIH, SJH, HR]Google Scholar
Newman, P. (1965) The theory of exchange. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. [HR]Google Scholar
Nisbett, R. E. & Wilson, T. D. (1977) Telling more than we can know: verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review 84:231–59. [HR]Google Scholar
Olds, J. (1962) Hypothalamic substrates of reward. Psychological Review 51:675–79. [HR]Google Scholar
Oster, G. F. & Wilson, E. O. (1978) Caste and ecology in the social insects. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. [AIH]Google Scholar
Pechman, J. A. & Timpane, P. M. (1975) Work incentives and income guarantees: The New Jersey negative income-tax experiment. Washington, DC.: Brooking Institute, 1975. [HR]Google Scholar
Platt, J. R. (1964) Strong inference. Science 146:347–53. [WV]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollak, R. A. (1970) Habit formation and dynamic demand functions. Journal of Political Economy 78:745–63. [HR]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollak, R. A. (1971) Additive utility functions and linear Engel curves. Review of Economic Studies 38:401–13. [HR]Google Scholar
Prelec, D. & Herrnstein, R. J. (1978) Feedback functions for reinforcement: A paradigmatic experiment. Animal Learning and Behavior 6:181–86. [RJH]Google Scholar
Premack, D. (1965) Reinforcement theory. In: Nebraska symposium on motivation, 1965, ed. Levine, D., pp. 123–80. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. [MSM, HR, WT]Google Scholar
Prelec, D. & Herrnstein, R. J. (1971) Catching up with common sense or two sides of generalization: Reinforcement and punishment. In: The nature of reinforcement, ed. Glaser, R., pp. 121–50. New York: Academic Press. [MSM, HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1971) On the tautology of the matching law. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 15:249–51. [RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1973) Contrast and matching. Psychological Review 80:217–34. [HR]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1974) Self-control. Behaviorism 1:94108. [HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1976) Introduction to modern behaviorism, 2nd. ed.San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. [RJH]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1978) A molar theory of reinforcement schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 30:345–60. [AIH, MSM, HR, WV]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachlin, H. (1979) Comment on Heyman and Luce. Animal Learning and Behavior 7:267–68. [RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1980) Economics and behavioral psychology. In: limits to action, ed. Staddon, J. E. R., pp. 205–36. New York: Academic Pres. [RJH]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. (1981) Learning theory in its niche. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4:155–6. [HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. & Burkhard, B. (1978) The temporal triangle: Response substitution in instrumental conditioning. Psychological Review 85:2248. [SEGL, MSM, HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. & Frankel, M. (1969) Choice, rate of response, and rate of gambling. Journal of Experimental Psychology 80:444–49. [HR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H. & Green, L. (1972) Commitment, choice and self-control. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 17:1522. [PRK, HR, RHT]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachlin, H., Green, L., Kagel, J. H. & Battalio, R. C. (1976) Economic demand theory and psychological studies of choice. In: The psychology of learning and motivation, vol. 10, ed. Bower, G., pp. 129–54. New York: Academic Press. [RJH, HR, NR]Google Scholar
Rachlin, H., Kagel, J. H. & Battalio, R. C. (1980) Substitutability in time allocation. Psychological Review 87:355–74. [AIH, SEGL, HR]Google Scholar
Rowland, N. (1977) Regulatory drinking: Do the physiological substrates have an ecological niche? Biobehavioral Reviews 1:261–72. [NR]Google Scholar
Rowland, N. (1981) (in press) Drinking behaviour: Physiological, neurological, and environmental factors. In: Motivational processes, ed. Toates, F. M. and Halliday, T.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [NR]Google Scholar
Rowland, N. & Marques, D. M. (1980) Stress-induced eating: Misrepresentation? Appetite 1:225–28. [NR]Google Scholar
Schrader, S. (1979) The economics of leisure in psychological studies of choice. Thesis. State University of New York at Stony Brook. [HR]Google Scholar
Schuster, R. & Rachlin, H. (1968) Indifference between punishment and free shock: Evidence for the negative law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 11:777–86. [PRK]Google Scholar
Shapiro, N., & Allison, J. (1978) Conservation, choice, and the concurrent fixed-ratio schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 29:211–23. [JA]Google Scholar
Shefrin, H. M. & Thaler, R. (1980) Rules and discretion in a two-self model of intertemporal choice. Cornell University mimeo. [RHT]Google Scholar
Shimp, C. P. (1969) Optimum behavior in free-operant experiments. Psychological Review 76:97112. [HR]Google Scholar
Shimp, C. P. (1973) Synthetic variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 19:311–30. [JCL]Google Scholar
Shimp, C. P. (1979) The local organisation of behavior: Method and theory. In: Reinforcement and the organization of behavior, ed. Zeiler, M. D. & Harzem, P., pp. 261–98. Chichester, England: J. Wiley. [JCL]Google Scholar
Shull, R. L. (1979) The postreinforcement pause: Some implications for the correlational law of effect. In: Reinforcement and the organizationof behavior, ed. Zeiler, M. D. & Harzem, P., pp. 193221. Chichester, England. Wiley. [JCL]Google Scholar
Sibly, R. M. & McFarland, D. J. (1976) On the fitness of behavior sequences. American Naturalist 110:601–17. [AIH]Google Scholar
Simon, H. A. (1956) Rational choice and the structure of the environment. Psychological Review 63:129–38. [HR]Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1938) The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century. [HR]Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1948) "Superstition" in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology 38:168172. [HR]Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Farewell, my LOVELY! Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 25:218. [JCL]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (1973) On the notion of cause, with applications to behaviorism. Behaviorism 1:2563. [PRK]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (1977) On Herrnstein's equation and related forms. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 28:163–70. [AIH]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (1979) Operant behavior as adaptation to constraint. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 108:4867. [JA, AIH, SEGL, HR, WT]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (ed.) (1980) Limits to action: The allocation of individual behavior. New York: Academic Press. [RJH, HR]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (1980) Optimality analyses of operant behavior and their relation to optimal foraging. In: Limits to action, ed. Staddon, J. E. R., pp. 101–41. New York: Academic Press. [AIH]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. (in press) Behavioral competition, contrast and matching. In: Quantitative analysis of behavior, vol. 2, ed. Commons, M., Herrnstein, R. J. & Rachlin, H.. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger. [HR]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. & Motheral, S. (1978) On matching and maximizing in operant choice experiments. Psychological Review 85:436–44. [AIH, HR]Google Scholar
Staddon, J. E. R. & Simmelhag, V. L. (1971) The "superstition" experiment: A reexamination of its implications for the principles of adaptive behavior. Psychological Review 78:1643. [HR]Google Scholar
Stigler, G. J. & Becker, G. S. (1977) De gustibus non est disputandum. The American Economic Review 67:7690. [MCK, HR, RHT]Google Scholar
Thaler, R. (1980) Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 1:3960. [RHT]Google Scholar
Thaler, R. & Shefrin, H. (in press) "An economic theory of self-control." Journal of Political Economy. [HR, RHT]Google Scholar
Thorndike, E. L. (1911) Animal intelligence: Experimental studies. New York: Macmillan. [HR]Google Scholar
Timberlake, W. (1979) Licking one saccarin solution for access to another in rats: Contingent and noncontingent effects in instrumental performance. Animal Learning and Behavior 7:277–88. [WT]Google Scholar
Timberlake, W. (1980) A molar equilibrium theory of learned performance. In: The psychology of learning and motivation, vol. 14, ed. Bower, G. H., pp. 158. New York: Academic Press. [WT]Google Scholar
Timberlake, W. & Allison, J. (1974) Response deprivation: An empirical approach to instrumental performance. Psychological Review 81:146–64. [MSM, HR, WT]Google Scholar
Toates, F. M. (1979) Homeostasis and drinking. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2:95139. [NR]Google Scholar
Toates, F. M. (1979) Water and energy in the interaction of thirst and hunger. In: Chemical influences on behaviour, ed. Brown, K. & Cooper, S., pp. 135200. London: Academic Press. [AIH]Google Scholar
Tolman, E. C. (1932) Purposive behavior in animals and men. New York: Century. [HR]Google Scholar
Tversky, A. (1969) Intrasitivity of preference. Psychological Review 76:3148. [HR]Google Scholar
Vaughan, W Jr. (1976) Optimization and reinforcement. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Harvard University. [WV]Google Scholar
Vaughan, W Jr. (in press) Choice and the Rescorla-Wagner model. In: Quantitative analysis of behavior, vol. 2, ed. Commons, M., Hermstein, R. J. & Rachlin, H.. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger. [WV]Google Scholar
Wegge, L. L. (1968) The demand curves from a quadratic utility indicator. Review of Economic Studies 35:209–24. [HR]Google Scholar
Zeiler, M. (1977) Schedules of reinforcement: The controlling variables. In: Handbook of operant behavior, ed. Honig, W. K. & Staddon, J. E. R.Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [EJF]Google Scholar