Choice and Self-Control

For several decades, choice has been the focus of considerable research by those who study operant behavior. This is not surprising, because the topics of choice and operant behavior are intimately intertwined. In everyday life, people can choose among a large, almost infinite set of operant behaviors, and they can choose not only which behaviors to perform, but under what conditions, at what rate, and for how long. Because choice is an essential part of human (and animal) life, it has been studied with great interest not only by behavioral psychologists, but also by decision theorists, economists, political scientists, biologists, and others. The research methods used in these different disciplines vary widely, and a review of all of the different methods for studying choice is well beyond the scope and purpose of this chapter. Instead, the chapter will focus on the techniques most frequently used in operant research—techniques that involve single-subject designs, that allow precise control of the reinforcement contingencies, and that produce (in most cases) large and clear effects on each subject’s behavior.

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