CHP 13 CHOICE

Question 1

Choice

Answer 1

voluntary behavior occuring in a context in which alternative behaviors are possible

Question 2

4 variables affecting choice

Answer 2

1. Reinforcement v. no consequence (reinf preffered)
2. Reinforcer size/quality (bigger+more quality is better)
3. Effort (low-effort over high-effort)
4. Reinforcer delay (shorter delay is better)

Question 3

Herrnstein’s matching equation

Answer 3

B1/(B1+B2) = R1/(R1+R2)

B1: behav pecking left
B2: behav pecking right
R1: reinf obtained on left
R2: reinf obtained on right

*the rate at which reinforcers are given is the rate at which one behavior pecking right/left is done

Question 4

2 ways to increase the proportion of behavior allocated to B1/dec undesired behavior (B2)

Answer 4

1. Inc R1
2. Dec R2

Question 5

Matching law + drug abuse

Answer 5

BDrug/(BDrug+BNonDrug) = RDrug/(RDrug+RNonDrug)

Question 6

Matching law and white nationalism

Answer 6

BJihad/(BJihad + BWest) = RJihad/(RJihad + RWest)

Question 7

Matching law + human attention

Answer 7

Our attention is drawn to things with high potential of reinforcers

Question 8

Substitute reinforcer

Answer 8

a reinforcer that’s increasingly consumed when access to another reinforcer is constrained

Question 9

Contingency management of substance use disorders

Answer 9

Maxine Stitzer and Steven Higgins found that most people were using drugs because the reinforcement rate for drug-seeking was higher than reinforcement for drug-refusal

Question 10

Impulsivity

Answer 10

choosing the smaller-sooner reward (SSR) and foregoing the larger-later reward (LLR)

Question 11

Self-control

Answer 11

choosing the larger-later reward (LLR) and foregoing the smaller-sooner reward (SSR)

Question 12

Delay discounting and impulsive choice

Answer 12

Delay discounting discounts the value of the delayed reinforcer below the value of the immeditate reinforcer, so we choose the SSR

Question 13

Delay discounting and preference reversals

Answer 13

At T2 when neither reinforcer is readily available, we choose the LLR because neither of the reinforcement values are being discounted. But when T1 comes, the SSR’s value increases and the LLR’s value decreases, so we reverse our preference and choose the SSR

Question 14

Shape of delay-discounting function

Answer 14

hyperbola

Question 15

Steeply discounting delayed CONSEQUENCES is correlated with what?

Answer 15

relapsing during drug-abuse treatment

Question 16

Rachlin + Green’s commitment experiment

Answer 16

At T2 pigeons frequently committed themselves to the course of self-control (orange button that, after a delay, only offered the LLR after a delay) over the chance to choose impulsively (red button that, after a delay, offered a choice between a SSR and LLR)