Transcript optimal distribution of behavior

Allocating your Behavior
The Response Allocation Approach
• There are many possible activities that you could engage in
– Sleeping, eating, drinking, facebook
– but these need be kept in balance i.e. optimally distributed
• The distribution of behaviors across some time period has to be
balanced to ensure survival
– Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty or sleep when tired
– Note that some of these are mutually exclusive behaviors
• Experimental approaches to response allocation
– instrumental conditioning procedure puts constraint on activities
• Push the lever to get the food
• Complete a writing assignment to get a grade
– If no restrictions are placed on these activities it is an unconstrained baseline
The Behavioral Bliss Point
• Note "Bliss Point" is a concept in economics regarding optimizing
consumption of a product
• The unconstrained, preferred, optimal distribution of behavior
which varies with circumstances, but is stable across time for a
given circumstance.
• When instrumental contingencies are imposed
– behavior is moved away from the behavioral bliss point
– may make it impossible to regain baseline
– behavioral bliss point can motivate behavior
• Imposing an Instrumental Contingency
See Figure 7.7
– the bliss point is 60 min facebook and 15 min studying
– With 1:1 instrumental contingency imposed
• need to study 60 min to get 60 min of facebook
– Attempting to minimize deviations from the behavioral bliss point
– However it is more complicates then this because there are a number of
alternative activities that can substitute for facebook
• Such as music, movies, sleep .etc
FIGURE 7.7
Allocation of behavior between spending time on Facebook and studying. The open circle shows the
optimal allocation, or behavioral bliss point, obtained when there are no constraints on either activity.
The schedule line represents a schedule of reinforcement in which the student is required to study for
the same amount of time that he or she spends on Facebook. Notice that once this schedule of
reinforcement is imposed, it is no longer possible for the student to achieve the behavioral bliss point.
The schedule deprives the student of time on Facebook and forces or motivates an increase in
studying.
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Behavioral Economics & Response Allocation
• “economics is the study of the allocation of behavior within a system of
constraints” Bickle (1995 p. 258)
• Instrumental conditioning is similar to economics
– “Ability” to make the responses is the “income”
• Need to have time and energy available
– Number of responses required: “effort” “cost” is the “price”
• Schedule of reinforcement determines "price" of the reinforcer
– Number of reinforcers earned is the “amount purchased”
• Consumer Demand
– Relationship between price and amount purchased
• Price increases decrease amount purchased depending on demand elasticity
– The demand curve and elasticity of demand See Figure 7.9
• Demand elasticity, degree of curve change, is larger for some items
• Curve A - high sensitivity (candy)
– moderate price increase greatly reduces amount purchased
• Curve C - low sensitivity (gasoline)
– moderate price increase reduces amount purchased only a little
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Example of Elasticity of Demand for Cigarettes
• Bickel 2006
• Smokers making responses “pull a plunger”
– Could earn 3 puffs on a cigarette, 5 cents or 25 cents
– progressive fixed ratio schedule of FR30, FR60, FR100, FR300, FR600, ...
eventually FR6000
• Figure 7.10 left side comparing cigarettes to 5 cents
– Open circles demand curve for money
– Closed circles demand curve for cigarettes
• Figure 7.10 right side comparing cigarettes to 25 cents
– Open circles demand curve for money
– Closed circles demand curve for cigarettes
FIGURE 7.10
Demand curves for cigarettes (solid circles) and money (open circles) with progressively larger fixedratio requirements. The number of reinforcers obtained, and the fixed-ratio requirements are both
presented on logarithmic scales. (Based on Johnson & Bickel, 2006.)
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Determinants of the Elasticity of Demand
• (1) Availability of substitutes
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–
–
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When alternatives are available at a reasonable price
Online movie instead of going to a movie theaters gives some elasticity
however for gasoline not much elasticity because of few alternatives
Methadone maintenance program See Figure 7.11
• as the price of methadone increased amount of drug consumed went down
• when an alternative hydromorphone was available at a fixed price demand for
methadone was more elastic
• (2) Price range
– increase in price has less effect at the low end of the price range
– 10 percent increase in price of candy
• Cheap candy: increase from 50 to 55 cents at the low end
• Expensive candy: increase from $5.00 to $5.50 at the high end
– This is responsible for the shape of the demand curves see figure 7.10
• At some point (break point or price point) the work load (price) is too high for
amount of reinforcer
– similar to increasing the work load for operant schedules
• FR1 to FR5 at the low end, a five fold increase, not much effect on behavior
• FR40 to FR80 at the high end, a doubling, much more effect on behavior
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Determinants of the Elasticity of Demand
• (3) Income level
– higher income decreases the effect of price increase
– Similar to time and energy available to earn a reinforcer
• For instrumental behavior having more time and energy available decreases the
effect of higher cost of getting the food
– Less likely to make choose substitutes
• Children with a small budget switch to healthy food when the price of unhealthy
food went up
• children with a large budget continue to purchase the more expensive unhealthy
but preferred food
• (4) Linked to complementary commodity
– hotdog buns are complementary when you buy hotdog
• if the price of hot dogs goes up both the sale of hot dogs and hot dog buns go
down
– consumption of cigarettes and alcohol are complementary
• in methadone maintenance programs methadone and cigarettes are
complementary
– for rats eating dry food and drinking water are complementary
Contributions of the Response Allocation approach
and behavioral economics
• Thinking about the cause of reinforcement as constraints on the
free flow of behavior
– instead of thinking about reinforcers as special kinds of stimuli or responses
• instrumental conditioning produces a new distribution or allocation
of responses
• instrumental behavior cannot be studied only in well-controlled
operant chambers
– to study the complex examples of choice self-control and economic behavior
– requires complex models that come from response allocation approach
Contributions of Behavioral Regulation
• Changed the concept of a reinforcer
• Changed the way instrumental conditioning procedures were
viewed
• No fundamental distinction between instrumental and reinforcer
responses
• Optimal distribution of behaviour determined by physiological
needs, ecological niche and species-specific response tendencies
• Emphasis on a broader behavioral context for understanding
instrumental behaviour