Publications
My research spans behavioral economics, behavioral science, substance use, policy, and statistical methods.
Selected Publications
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) are becoming routine tools for knowledge work, yet workers differ in which systems they choose and how strongly they rely on them. We applied operant demand methods to quantify the behavioral value of LLM assistance among employed adults who currently use LLMs. Participants ranked familiar LLMs and completed hypothetical purchase tasks for their most preferred model, least preferred model, and a multi-model platform. Consistent with behavioral economic principles, consumption decreased systematically as cost increased, producing well-ordered demand curves. Top-preferred LLMs showed relatively inelastic demand and higher essential value; least-preferred LLMs showed steeper declines in consumption; the multi-model option reflected intermediate valuation. Demand metrics may offer organizations a practical way to inform LLM access and resource-allocation decisions, though findings are limited to current LLM users under a hypothetical direct-cost contingency and may not extend to non-monetary constraints such as time and effort.
Abstract
This article introduces shinybeez, a free and open‐source web application designed to streamline behavioral economic analyses of demand and discounting data. Although quantitative modeling of behavioral economic phenomena has increased in popularity and led to translational successes in clinical practice and policy, complex analyses have remained a barrier for many researchers and practitioners. The shinybeez application addresses this gap by providing an intuitive interface for conducting descriptive and inferential analyses without requiring programming expertise. The app integrates features previously scattered across multiple tools, allowing users to upload data, calculate empirical measures, identify systematic data sets, fit nonlinear models, and visualize results—all within a single platform. The shinybeez application supports various types of analysis for demand and discounting data, including indifference point data and the 27‐Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire. Built on R Shiny and leveraging existing R packages, the app ensures reproducibility and consistency with underlying analytical methods while remaining flexible for future enhancements. The advantages of shinybeez include its accessibility through web browsers or local installation, ability to handle large data sets, and customizable data visualization options. By consolidating behavioral economic tools into a user‐friendly interface, shinybeez is intended to broaden the reach of these analytical techniques and facilitate their application in addressing societal issues.
Abstract
beezdemand: Behavioral Economic Easy Demand, a novel package for performing behavioral economic analyses, is introduced and evaluated. beezdemand extends the statistical program to facilitate many of the analyses performed in studies of behavioral economic demand. The package supports commonly used options for modeling operant demand and performs data screening, fits models of demand, and calculates numerous measures relevant to applied behavioral economists. The free and open source beezdemand package is compared to commercially available software (i.e., GraphPad Prism™) using peer-reviewed and simulated data. The results of this study indicated that beezdemand provides results consistent with commonly used commercial software but provides a wider range of methods and functionality desirable to behavioral economic researchers. A brief overview of the package is presented, its functionality is demonstrated, and considerations for its use are discussed.
Abstract
Handbook of Operant Behavioral Economics: Demand, Discounting, Methods, and Applications delves into the rapidly evolving field of behavioral economics, focusing specifically on the operant approach that marries operant learning principles with microeconomic theory. This comprehensive guide begins with a brief history of behavioral economics, setting the stage for a more thorough review of operant demand and reward discounting. It presents both human and nonhuman research methods, offering critical insights into how these methodologies can be employed to study consumption behaviors and decision-making processes. This book also features quantitative models that elucidate operant demand and discounting, along with practical applications that extend the relevance of these concepts to real-world scenarios. Additionally, it highlights the policy implications of applied behavioral economics, bridging the gap between theory and practice. With a strong emphasis on consumer behavior analysis as a foundational element, this handbook equips readers with the knowledge to translate academic research into actionable policy. Designed for graduate students, clinicians, and academics alike, this resource is ideal for those looking to deepen their understanding of behavioral economics and its applications.
Understanding alcohol motivation using the Alcohol Purchase Task: A methodological systematic review
Abstract
Background: The Alcohol Purchase Task (APT) is a behavioral economic assessment of alcohol demand (i.e., motivation for consumption during escalating levels of response cost) using simulated marketplace survey techniques. While the APT is often used and widely cited, to date, there has yet to be a systematic review elucidating the variability in administering and analyzing the APT. The purpose of the current paper is to address this knowledge gap in the literature by cataloging the various purchase task methodologies and providing recommendations and future areas of inquiry. Methods: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology was utilized (Prospero: No. CRD42017072159). Searches through Google Scholar, PsychINFO, PubMed, and SpringerLink databases identified 47 empirical articles referencing the use of an APT and published through the year 2016. Articles were coded for demographic and procedural characteristics, structural characteristics of the APT itself, and characteristics of data analysis. Results: Results indicate substantial variation within categories and suggest that there is no standard approach to administering the APT or analyzing the responses generated from it. The results underscore the need for researchers to report as much information as possible related to administration, instructions, price structuring, and analytical approach, as we found that many articles did not provide these details. Conclusion: Enhancing the transparency of APT methods and analyses in published reports will aid in reproducibility as well as future meta-analytic studies of alcohol demand that could lead to the development of best-practice recommendations for this procedure.
Abstract
Behavioral economic demand methodology is increasingly being used in various fields such as substance use and consumer behavior analysis. Traditional analytical techniques to fitting demand data have proven useful yet some of these approaches require preprocessing of data, ignore dependence in the data, and present statistical limitations. We term these approaches "fit to group" and "two stage" with the former interested in group or population level estimates and the latter interested in individual subject estimates. As an extension to these regression techniques, mixed-effect (or multilevel) modeling can serve as an improvement over these traditional methods. Notable benefits include providing simultaneous group (i.e., population) level estimates (with more accurate standard errors) and individual level predictions while accommodating the inclusion of "nonsystematic" response sets and covariates. These models can also accommodate complex experimental designs including repeated measures. The goal of this article is to introduce and provide a high-level overview of mixed-effects modeling techniques applied to behavioral economic demand data. We compare and contrast results from traditional techniques to that of the mixed-effects models across two datasets differing in species and experimental design. We discuss the relative benefits and drawbacks of these approaches and provide access to statistical code and data to support the analytical replicability of the comparisons. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-021-00299-7.
Abstract
Since its introduction by Jacobs and Bickel (1999), the hypothetical purchase task (HPT) has emerged as a frequently used methodology in behavioral economics research, particularly in studies of substance use and public health decision making. The HPT represents an approach that seeks to quantify the reinforcing value of drugs and other commodities through parametric, scalable methodology measured via self‐reported consumption across escalating prices. Despite its increasing use in research settings, no comprehensive evaluation of its scientific influence has yet been undertaken. To address this gap, we conducted a two‐part review of the HPT's empirical legacy. In Study 1, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of all peer‐reviewed documents citing Jacobs and Bickel (1999) through mid‐2025. In Study 2, we conducted a systematic review of empirical HPT studies employing operant demand analyses to assess drug consumption. We conclude with a discussion on the legacy of Jacobs and Bickel (1999), an evaluation of the present state of the field of operant behavioral economic science in addiction, and a call for critical areas of inquiry in the use of HPTs to measure drug abuse potential.
Presentations & Webinars
Modeling Individual and Group Outcomes: An Introduction to Mixed-Effects Models ABAI Webinar Series, October 2025
An intermediate-level webinar introducing mixed-effects (multilevel) modeling for behavior analysts working with repeated-measures and single-case data.
No publications match that search.
Books
- Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Gilroy, S. P. (Eds.). (2025). Handbook of operant behavioral economics: Demand, discounting, methods, and applications (1st ed.). Academic Press. ISBN: 9780323957458 (Paperback), 9780323957465 (eBook).
Abstract
Handbook of Operant Behavioral Economics: Demand, Discounting, Methods, and Applications delves into the rapidly evolving field of behavioral economics, focusing specifically on the operant approach that marries operant learning principles with microeconomic theory. This comprehensive guide begins with a brief history of behavioral economics, setting the stage for a more thorough review of operant demand and reward discounting. It presents both human and nonhuman research methods, offering critical insights into how these methodologies can be employed to study consumption behaviors and decision-making processes. This book also features quantitative models that elucidate operant demand and discounting, along with practical applications that extend the relevance of these concepts to real-world scenarios. Additionally, it highlights the policy implications of applied behavioral economics, bridging the gap between theory and practice. With a strong emphasis on consumer behavior analysis as a foundational element, this handbook equips readers with the knowledge to translate academic research into actionable policy. Designed for graduate students, clinicians, and academics alike, this resource is ideal for those looking to deepen their understanding of behavioral economics and its applications.
Journal Articles
Strickland, J. C., Reed, D. D., Koffarnus, M. N., Acuff, S. F., Gelino, B. W., Graham, M. E., Kaplan, B. A., Johansen, A., Pierce-Messick, Z., Banks, M. L., Negus, S. S., Kearns, D. N., Chiapperino, D., Reissig, C. J., Varshneya, N. B., & Hursh, S. R. (in press). The use of behavioral economic demand in human abuse potential assessment: A review and recommendations for future testing. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. doi: 10.1037/pha0000877
Abstract
A key step in the regulatory evaluation of new chemical entities is the assessment of their abuse potential. Human abuse potential (HAP) studies provide insights into the likelihood that new chemical entities have the potential for intentional, nonmedical use and therefore should be considered for greater regulatory control. Behavioral economic demand methods are proposed as a complementary method to improve the resolution of abuse liability testing. These procedures are posited to provide scalar, rank-ordered comparisons of abuse potential that are comparable across drugs and to better model real-world contexts in which constraint and cost influence drug-taking potential. The current review considers the applicability of behavioral economic demand methods to HAP testing frameworks. We review existing studies that have applied procedures broadly consistent with HAP testing and integrated demand procedures to measure abuse potential and/or a drug reinforcement. Procedural details and the demand methods implemented are reviewed toward the goal of informing the methods for applying demand testing in the HAP study framework and the existing gaps in defining those methods. Ultimately, efforts to improve the sensitivity and resolution of assays to detect and differentiate abuse potential stand to improve public health by concentrating efforts on the adequate control of drugs that pose risk while minimizing the restrictions on those with a lower abuse potential to maximize their clinical utility.
LeBlanc, L. A., Kaplan, B. A., Thompson, K., Sweatman, A., & Mintz, C. (2026). Changes in curriculum assessment scores associated with early intensive behavioral intervention in a routine clinical care setting. Behavioral Interventions, 41(4), e70142. doi: 10.1002/bin.70142
Abstract
Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is designed to establish critical social, cognitive, language, and adaptive repertoires. The current study examines changes in scores and growth curves on the most commonly used curriculum assessment, the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB‐MAPP), in a routine clinical care setting for autistic children in EIBI services. It is also the first study to examine how correlations between VB‐MAPP scores and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale–Third Edition (VABS‐III) (i.e., a norm‐referenced measure) throughout treatment. The mean VB‐MAPP change score was 69.6 points in about 1.5 years of treatment, with the greatest change occurring between the first and second assessments (i.e., initially steep growth curves that lessen in slope over time). The VABS‐III communication domain, adaptive behavior composite, and socialization domain had moderate to strong correlations with VB‐MAPP scores and those correlations became stronger throughout the treatment process. Age was a predictor of initial VB‐MAPP scores (i.e., lower age, lower score), supporting the importance of early identification and access to treatment. Children who exited services prematurely made progress in treatment, but more slowly than children who remained in services until a recommended discharge.
Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Laske, M., Graham, M. E., DiGennaro Reed, F. D., Blackman, A., & Hursh, S. R. (2026). Behavioral economics of artificial intelligence (AI) at work: Modeling demand for large language models in organizational contexts. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management. doi: 10.1080/01608061.2026.2717085
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) are becoming routine tools for knowledge work, yet workers differ in which systems they choose and how strongly they rely on them. We applied operant demand methods to quantify the behavioral value of LLM assistance among employed adults who currently use LLMs. Participants ranked familiar LLMs and completed hypothetical purchase tasks for their most preferred model, least preferred model, and a multi-model platform. Consistent with behavioral economic principles, consumption decreased systematically as cost increased, producing well-ordered demand curves. Top-preferred LLMs showed relatively inelastic demand and higher essential value; least-preferred LLMs showed steeper declines in consumption; the multi-model option reflected intermediate valuation. Demand metrics may offer organizations a practical way to inform LLM access and resource-allocation decisions, though findings are limited to current LLM users under a hypothetical direct-cost contingency and may not extend to non-monetary constraints such as time and effort.
Reed, D. D., Strickland, J. C., Acuff, S. F., Gelino, B. W., Graham, M. E., Kaplan, B. A., Johansen, A., Pierce-Messick, Z., Banks, M. L., Negus, S. S., Kearns, D. N., Chiapperino, D., Reissig, C. J., Varshneya, N. B., & Hursh, S. R. (2026). Twenty-five years of simulated demand: A bibliometric and systematic review of hypothetical drug purchase tasks. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 125(3), e70105. doi: 10.1002/jeab.70105
Abstract
Since its introduction by Jacobs and Bickel (1999), the hypothetical purchase task (HPT) has emerged as a frequently used methodology in behavioral economics research, particularly in studies of substance use and public health decision making. The HPT represents an approach that seeks to quantify the reinforcing value of drugs and other commodities through parametric, scalable methodology measured via self‐reported consumption across escalating prices. Despite its increasing use in research settings, no comprehensive evaluation of its scientific influence has yet been undertaken. To address this gap, we conducted a two‐part review of the HPT's empirical legacy. In Study 1, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of all peer‐reviewed documents citing Jacobs and Bickel (1999) through mid‐2025. In Study 2, we conducted a systematic review of empirical HPT studies employing operant demand analyses to assess drug consumption. We conclude with a discussion on the legacy of Jacobs and Bickel (1999), an evaluation of the present state of the field of operant behavioral economic science in addiction, and a call for critical areas of inquiry in the use of HPTs to measure drug abuse potential.
Rzeszutek, M. J., Regnier, S. D., Kaplan, B. A., Traxler, H. K., Stein, J. S., Tomlinson, D. C., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2026). Identification and management of nonsystematic cross-commodity data: Toward best practice. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. doi: 10.1037/pha0000836
Abstract
Data systematicity has been an important area of consideration for behavioral economic demand. Stein et al. (2015) introduced criteria and an accompanying algorithm to aid researchers in identifying data series that may be considered "nonsystematic"-that is, data that may not follow empirically based assumptions such as an overall decrease in consumption as the cost of a commodity increases and consistency in decreases in consumption. However, those criteria and algorithm are only directly applicable to own-price demand, or demand for a commodity that is increasing in price. Cross-price demand, or demand for a second commodity that changes as a function of some other commodity, does not have a similar set of criteria or algorithm for assessing cross-commodity demand systematicity. Cross-price or cross-commodity demand is useful in understanding how changes in one substance or commodity may change the consumption of another substance or commodity. Thus, we extend Stein et al.'s criteria and algorithm to classify if a cross-commodity can be considered a substitute, complement, or independent, and then assess its systematicity based on its classification. We demonstrate this algorithm on three different cross-commodity demand data sets and describe important considerations regarding data exclusions to prevent biasing results from own-price and cross-price demand.
LeBlanc, L. A., Schutte, C., Mintz, C., Kaplan, B. A., Caffee, A., & Sweatman, A. (2025). Parenting stress of parents with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with access to behavioral treatment. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 38(3), 583-607. doi: 10.1007/s10882-025-10037-5
Abstract
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience higher levels of parenting stress than parents of neurotypical children or children with other conditions, with some evidence of the influence of certain child (e.g., externalizing behavior) and family (e.g., informant relationship to child) variables. Gaps in our understanding still exist in certain areas such as father’s parenting stress, stress experienced by parents who have multiple children diagnosed with ASD, and parent stress in diverse samples. This cross-sectional, retrospective study examined family and child variables as they relate to parenting stress in a large, diverse sample of parents at intake to early intensive behavioral intervention services. When examined in isolation, child variables such as challenging behavior, adaptive behavior, and age at diagnosis were differentially associated with parenting stress and one family variable, ethnicity of the family, was also differentially associated with parenting stress. When examined in a multiple regression analysis, the most influential variables were challenging behavior and family ethnicity.
Kaplan, B. A. & Reed, D. D. (2025). shinybeez: A Shiny app for Behavioral Economic Easy Demand and Discounting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. doi: 10.1002/jeab.70000
Abstract
This article introduces shinybeez, a free and open‐source web application designed to streamline behavioral economic analyses of demand and discounting data. Although quantitative modeling of behavioral economic phenomena has increased in popularity and led to translational successes in clinical practice and policy, complex analyses have remained a barrier for many researchers and practitioners. The shinybeez application addresses this gap by providing an intuitive interface for conducting descriptive and inferential analyses without requiring programming expertise. The app integrates features previously scattered across multiple tools, allowing users to upload data, calculate empirical measures, identify systematic data sets, fit nonlinear models, and visualize results—all within a single platform. The shinybeez application supports various types of analysis for demand and discounting data, including indifference point data and the 27‐Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire. Built on R Shiny and leveraging existing R packages, the app ensures reproducibility and consistency with underlying analytical methods while remaining flexible for future enhancements. The advantages of shinybeez include its accessibility through web browsers or local installation, ability to handle large data sets, and customizable data visualization options. By consolidating behavioral economic tools into a user‐friendly interface, shinybeez is intended to broaden the reach of these analytical techniques and facilitate their application in addressing societal issues.
LeBlanc, L. A., Mintz, C., Caffee, A., & Kaplan, B. A. (2025). School placement outcomes following early intensive behavioral intervention in a routine clinical care setting. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06880-2
Abstract
Early intensive behavioral intervention is designed to establish critical social, cognitive, and adaptive repertoires and to close the developmental gap prior to entry into school systems. Previous research studies have documented that approximately half of children experiencing EIBI enter school with age typical cognitive or language skills and/or a general education placement. The current study examines the placement outcomes achieved in a routine clinical care setting for children completing EIBI services. Data were collected on several measures of school readiness prior to discharge and school placement following discharge from services between August 2022 and November 2023. The majority of children graduating from services entered school spending most or all of their time in general education settings, while the majority of those who exited services prematurely to enter school spent most or all of their time in special education settings or alternative school placements. In addition, scores on standardized measures were predictive of school placement. The school placement results for this organization are comparable to prior studies examining this outcome. Remaining in treatment services until a recommended discharge increased the probability of being placed in general education, which has been calculated to have significant cost savings.
Day-Watkins, J., Vladescu, J. C., Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., Graham, M., & Schnell-Peskin, L. K. (2025). Optimizing variables for contingency management among infant caregivers using a simulated purchase task. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. doi: 10.1002/jeab.4233
Abstract
Behavioral economics offers a framework for understanding choice making around public health concerns such as drug use and distracted driving. Such a framework could be beneficial to understanding caregiver choices related to arranging an infant sleep environment. Nonadherence to infant sleep safety guidelines provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics increases the risk of sleep‐related infant deaths. The present study adopted a willingness‐to‐accept purchase task procedure, used in previous research to evaluate variables that predict abstaining from consuming alcohol, to evaluate intention to adhere to recommendations for arranging a safe infant sleep environment. This analysis would inform contingency management incentive scales used to measure caregiver adherence following training caregivers to arrange an infant sleep environment and identify variables that might predict treatment engagement. The results identified incentive sizes, condition duration, and participant variables that predict caregiver adherence. The results can be applied to future investigations that train caregivers to arrange an infant sleep environment.
Brown, J. M., Sofis, M., Zimmer, S., & Kaplan, B. A. (2024). Delay discounting is associated with addiction and mental health measures while controlling for health behaviors and health barriers in a large US sample. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 19, 100545. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2024.100545
Abstract
Background: Excessive discounting of future rewards [delay discounting (DD)] may be a transdiagnostic process and treatment target underlying behavioral health outcomes, including trauma, depression, anxiety, and problematic substance use. However, multiple health behaviors and barriers are also related to these outcomes, including social media usage, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), sleep quality, healthcare access, housing status, and exercise. To extend research examining DD as transdiagnostic process, we recruited a large, heterogenous sample to examine the association between DD, problematic substance use, and mental health outcomes while controlling for certain health behaviors and health barriers. Method: In a cross-sectional online survey of 3992 US residents, we administered validated measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and problematic alcohol, stimulant, and opioid use. Using linear or ordinal logistic models, scores for each outcome were regressed onto DD while controlling for demographics, health behaviors, and health barriers. Results: Including only DD and demographics, DD was associated with each outcome at low effect sizes (ƒ 2 =.013, OR range = 1.08-1.16). Except for opioid ASSIST scores, these relationships held when controlling for social media usage, sleep, housing status, healthcare access, ACEs, physical exercise, and demographic variables (ƒ 2 =.002, OR range = 1.03-1.12), increasing confidence that DD concurrently and directly relates to four of these five clinical outcomes. Discussion: These findings support the conceptualization of DD as a transdiagnostic process underlying certain psychopathologies and suggest targeting DD in co-occurring substance use disorder and/or mental health treatments may result in clinically significant outcomes.
Gelino, B. W., Kaplan, B. A., & Reed, D. D. (2023). A behavioral economic analysis of carbon-neutral home energy enrollment. Behavior and Social Issues, 32, 517-533. doi: 10.1007/s42822-023-00143-4
Abstract
This study demonstrates behavioral economic task sensitivity in the context of “green” consumerism, specifically carbon-neutral home energy enrollment. Task respondents reported their likelihood of enrolling with a hypothetical home energy supplier via a medium (i.e., simulated task) closely resembling an actual choice context (i.e., energy provider web portal). We described enrollment probability across prices and generated demand metrics using field-standard nonlinear modeling. Model outputs were consistent with extant behavioral economic literature in internal consistency (i.e., correlations among derived demand metrics) and data quality (i.e., the proportion of nonsystematic flagging). We then used hierarchical linear regression to assess the degree to which demand metrics predict ecological concern. Results revealed a predictive relation between the demand sensitivity metric α (alpha) and sum scores on the New Ecological Paradigm Scale such that those respondents most willing to continue paying for green energy at increasing prices were also those expressing greatest concern over human–environment relations. This preliminary predictive validation underscores the task’s ability to contact relevant ecological decision-making contexts. Overall findings support task use as an evaluative instrument in prospective community intervention (as in evaluating contextual influences) and underscore the viable application of behavioral economic methods to better understand “green” consumer preferences.
Maher, E. E., White, A. M., Craig, A., Khatri, S., Kendrick Jr, P. T., Matocha, M. E., Bondy, E. O., Pallem, N., Breakfield, G., Botkins, M., Sweatt, O., Griffin, W. C., Kaplan, B. A., Weafer, J. J., Beckman, J. S., & Gipson, C. D. (2023). Synthetic contraceptive hormones occlude the ability of nicotine to reduce ethanol consumption in ovary-intact female rats. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 252, 110983. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110983
Abstract
Rates of tobacco and alcohol use in women are rising, and women are more vulnerable than men to escalating tobacco and alcohol use. Many women use hormonal birth control, with the oral contraceptive pill being the most prevalent. Oral contraceptives contain both a progestin (synthetic progesterone) and a synthetic estrogen (ethinyl estradiol; EE) and are contraindicated for women over 35 years who smoke. Despite this, no studies have examined how synthetic contraceptive hormones impact this pattern of polysubstance use in females. To address this critical gap in the field, we treated ovary-intact female rats with either sesame oil (vehicle), the progestin levonorgestrel (LEVO; contained in formulations such as Alesse®), or the combination of EE+LEVO in addition to either undergoing single (nicotine or saline) or polydrug (nicotine and ethanol; EtOH) self-administration (SA) in a sequential use model. Rats preferred EtOH over water following extended EtOH drinking experience as well as after nicotine or saline SA experience, and rats undergoing only nicotine SA (water controls) consumed more nicotine as compared to rats co-using EtOH and nicotine. Importantly, this effect was occluded in groups treated with contraceptive hormones. In the sequential use group, both LEVO alone and the EE+LEVO combination occluded the ability of nicotine to decrease EtOH consumption. Interestingly, demand experiments suggest an economic substitute effect between nicotine and EtOH. Together, we show that chronic synthetic hormone exposure impacts nicotine and EtOH sequential use, demonstrating the crucial need to understand how chronic use of different contraceptive formulations alter patterns of polydrug use in women.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., Oda, F. S., & Strickland, J. C. (2023). Extra-experimental scarcity impacts hypothetical operant demand: A natural SARS-CoV-2 experiment. Behavioural Processes, 205, 104817. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104817
Abstract
Behavioral economic demand models quantify the extent to which an organism defends its consumption of a commodity. Commodity purchase tasks permit humans a quick yet psychometrically sound approach to assessing commodity demand for various retail products. Operant behavioral economic literature suggests economy type (open vs closed) can significantly alter demand, yet this effect is largely undocumented in the commodity purchase task literature. In this study, we leveraged the market pressures for retail goods (hand lotion and sanitizer; paper towels and toilet paper; soda and water) resulting from SARS-CoV-2 into a natural experiment comparing within-subject demand across two time-points during the pandemic using a crowdsourced approach. Results suggest that hypothetical commodity purchase tasks are sensitive to extra-experimental market pressures (e.g., scarcity due to the closing of economies), adding additional confidence to the self-report nature of purchase task responding and providing further construct validity to these approaches.
Rzeszutek, M. J., Kaplan, B. A., Traxler, H. K., Franck, C. T., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2023). Hyperbolic delay and exponentiated demand: Modelling demand for cigarettes in three dimensions. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 119(1), 169-191. doi: 10.1002/jeab.818
Abstract
Behavioral economics has been a fruitful area of research in substance use. Mathematical descriptions of how individuals temporally discount the value of a commodity have been correlated with substance use and mathematical descriptions of drug consumption decreasing as a function of price (i.e., demand) predict maladaptive substance use. While there is a logical assumption that temporal factors affect demand for a drug, little has been done to merge these models. Thus, the purpose of this study was to combine models of discounting and demand, extending Howard Rachlin's work and contributions to novel areas of study. Data from 85 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) who completed a hypothetical cigarette purchase task that included price of and delay to cigarettes were analyzed. Multilevel modeling was used to determine descriptive accuracy of combined additive and multiplicative models of discounting and demand. Of the discounting models used in conjunction with the exponentiated demand equation, the Rachlin hyperboloid best described the delay dimension of consumption. The multiplicative version of the Rachlin equation applied to both delay and price outperformed other models tested. Therefore, existing models of discounting and demand can be extended to modeling consumption data from complex multidimensional experimental arrangements.
Franck, C. T., Traxler, H. K., Kaplan, B. A., Koffarnus, M. N. & Rzeszutek, M. J., (2023). A Tribute to the Howard Rachlin and his two-parameter discounting model: Reliable and flexible model fitting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 119(1), 156-168. doi: 10.1002/jeab.820
Abstract
Delay discounting reflects the rate at which a reward loses its subjective value as a function of delay to that reward. Many models have been proposed to measure delay discounting, and many comparisons have been made among these models. We highlight the two‐parameter delay discounting model popularized by Howard Rachlin by demonstrating two key practical features of the Rachlin model. The first feature is flexibility; the Rachlin model fits empirical discounting data closely. Second, when compared with other available two‐parameter discounting models, the Rachlin model has the advantage that unique best estimates for parameters are easy to obtain across a wide variety of potential discounting patterns. We focus this work on this second feature in the context of maximum likelihood, showing the relative ease with which the Rachlin model can be utilized compared with the extreme care that must be used with other models for discounting data, focusing on two illustrative cases that pass checks for data validity. Both of these features are demonstrated via a reanalysis of discounting data the authors have previously used for model selection purposes.
Kaplan, B. A., Crill, E. M., Franck, C. T., Bickel, W. K., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2022). Blood nicotine predicts behavioral economic abuse liability of reduced-nicotine cigarettes. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 24(5), 728-735. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab227
Abstract
Background Cigarette smoking continues to be a major health concern and remains the leading preventable cause of death in the US. Recent efforts have been made to determine the potential health and policy benefits of reducing nicotine in combustible cigarettes. The degree to which changes in blood nicotine relate to measures of the abuse liability of reduced-nicotine cigarettes is unknown. The current study examined the relation between blood nicotine and behavioral economic demand measures of cigarettes differing in nicotine content. Methods Using a within-subject design, participants smoked a single cigarette during each experimental session. Cigarettes included the participant’s usual-brand cigarette and SPECTRUM investigational cigarette differing in nicotine level (mg of nicotine to g of tobacco; 15.8 mg/g, 5.2 mg/g, 2.4 mg/g, 1.3 mg/g, and 0.4 mg/g). During each session, blood was collected at multiple timepoints and behavioral economic demand was assessed. Nonlinear mixed-effects models were used to estimate differences in derived intensity (Q0) and change in elasticity (α). Results Measures of blood nicotine decreased in an orderly fashion related to nicotine level and significantly predicted change in elasticity (α), but not derived intensity. No differences in demand parameters between the usual brand and 15.8mg/g cigarettes were observed. However, α was significantly higher (lower valuation) for 0.4mg/g than 15.8mg/g cigarettes. Conclusions The lowest nicotine level (0.4mg/g) corresponded with the lowest abuse liability (α) compared to the full-strength control (15.8mg/g), with the 1.3mg/g level also resulting in low abuse liability. Implications This is the first study examining the relative contributions of nicotine content in cigarettes and blood nicotine levels on the behavioral economic demand abuse liability of cigarettes ranging in nicotine content. Our results suggest blood nicotine and nicotine content both predict behavioral economic demand abuse liability. In addition, our results suggest a nicotine content of 1.3mg/g or lower may be effective at reducing cigarette uptake among first-time (naïve) smokers. Our results largely conform to previous findings suggesting a very low nicotine content cigarette maintains lower abuse liability than full-strength cigarettes.
Rzeszutek, M. J., Franck, C. T., Traxler, H. K., Kaplan, B. A., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2022). Notes on demand: Conceptual and empirical benefits of applying Rachlin’s discounting equation to demand data. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. doi: 10.1037/adb0000889
Abstract
Objective: Howard Rachlin wrote extensively on how value diminishes in a hyperbolic form, and he contributed to understanding choice processes between different commodities as a molar pattern of behavior. The field of behavioral economic demand has been dominated by exponential decay functions, indicating that decreases in consumption of a commodity are best fit by exponential functions. Because of the success of Rachlin's equation at describing how hyperbolic decay affects the value of a commodity across various factors (e.g., delay, probability, social distance), we attempted to extend his equation to behavioral economic demand data for alcohol and opioids. Method: Rachlin's discounting equation was applied to estimate consumption on alcohol purchase task data and nonhuman drug demand data. We compared results of his equation to the exponentiated demand equation using both a mixed-effects modeling approach and a two-stage approach. Results: Rachlin's equation provided better fits to consumption data than the exponentiated equation for both mixed-effects and two-stage modeling. We also found that traditional demand metrics, such as P max, can be derived analytically when using Rachlin's equation. Certain metrics derived from Rachlin's equation appeared to be related to clinical covariates in ways similar to the exponentiated equation. Conclusions: Rachlin's equation better described demand data than did the exponentiated equation, indicating that demand for a commodity may decrease hyperbolically rather than exponentially. Other benefits of his equation are that it does not have the same pitfalls as the current exponential equations and is relatively straightforward in its conceptualization when applied to demand data.
Freitas-Lemos, R., Stein, J. S., Tegge, A. N., Kaplan, B. A., Heckman, B. W., McNeill, A., Cummings, K. M., Fong, G. T., Bickel, W. K. (2022). The Illegal Experimental Tobacco Marketplace II: Effects of vaping product bans. Tobacco Control, 31(Suppl 3), s214-s222. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057515
Abstract
Significance Restrictive e-cigarette policies may increase purchases from illegal sources. The Illegal Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (IETM) allows examination of how restrictions impact illegal purchases. We investigated (1) the effect of a vaping ban, total flavour vaping ban and partial flavour vaping ban on the probability of purchasing illegal vaping products among different regulatory environments (USA, Canada and England) and tobacco user types (cigarette smokers, dual users and e-cigarette users); and (2) the relation between ban endorsement and illegal purchases. Methods Participants (N=459) from the International Tobacco Control Survey rated their support of bans and chose to purchase from a hypothetical legal experimental tobacco marketplace or IETM under control and the three ban conditions. Results In total, 25% of cigarette smokers, 67% of dual users and 79% of e-cigarette users made IETM purchases. Cross-country comparisons depicted dual users from Canada (OR: 19.8), and e-cigarette users from the USA (OR: 12.9) exhibited higher illegal purchases odds than the same user type in England. Within-country comparisons showed e-cigarette and dual users are more likely to purchase from the IETM than cigarette smokers in the most restrictive condition, with the largest effects in e-cigarette users (England—OR: 1722.6, USA—OR: 22725.3, Canada—OR: 6125.0). Increased opposition towards partial or total flavour ban was associated with increased IETM purchasing in the corresponding condition. Conclusions Vaping restrictions may shift users’ preference to the illegal marketplace in a regulatory environment. Evidence of the IETM generalisability in a geographically dispersed sample enhances its utility in tobacco regulatory science.
Traxler, H. K., Kaplan, B. A., Rzeszutek, M. J., Franck, C. T., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2022). Interest in and perceived effectiveness of contingency management among alcohol drinkers using behavioral economic purchase tasks. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 31(1), 127-139. doi: 10.1037/pha0000580
Abstract
Contingency management (CM), in which financial incentives are provided upon verification of abstinence from alcohol, cigarettes, and/or illicit substances, is one of the most highly effective and empirically supported treatments for substance use disorders. However, the financial cost of implementation has been identified as a major barrier to implementation of this treatment. The purpose of this study was to develop behavioral economic purchase tasks to assess interest in CM as a function of treatment cost and perceived effectiveness of CM as a function of abstinence incentive size in alcohol drinkers. Alcohol drinkers recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) completed behavioral economic purchase tasks measuring demand for CM based on targeted abstinence intervals and treatment effectiveness and alcohol use disorder severity assessments. Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling was used to fit demand curves and assess the relationship between individual characteristics and demand metrics for CM. Results reveal that participants reported higher probability of remaining abstinent from drinking when offered larger incentives and required larger incentives when duration of abstinence required to earn the incentive was increased. Additionally, willingness to pay for treatment increased as effectiveness of treatment increased. Abstinence interval and treatment effectiveness are important features to consider when developing effective CM for widespread use, as these variables affected participants' likelihood of being abstinent and their interest in treatment. Future work will validate these assessments with actual treatment outcomes and determine predictors of CM treatment effectiveness.
Koffarnus, M. N., Kaplan, B. A., Franck, C. T., Rzeszutek, M. J., & Traxler, H. K. (2022). Behavioral economic demand modeling chronology, complexities, and considerations: Much ado about zeros. Behavioural Processes, 199, 104646. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104646
Abstract
Behavioral economic demand has been shown to have high utility in quantifying the value or consumption of a commodity. Demand describes the relationship between cost and consumption of a commodity, and tends to be curvilinear with consumption approaching zero as the cost increases to a sufficiently high cost to suppress consumption completely. Over a period spanning greater than three decades, behavioral economists have made great strides in the modeling of demand and addressing analytical challenges, although this work is not complete and unresolved challenges remain. The analytical challenges associated with modeling zeros both when they arise as consumption values of zero and when consumption at zero cost is assessed have been a substantial part of this evolution in models. The goals of this methodological review are to provide a historical overview of the major behavioral economic demand models that have been proposed, describe some of the common difficulties with analyzing behavioral economic demand, and discuss general considerations for the analysis of demand. In an environment with evolving and multiple competing analytical practices, we conclude that researchers can maximize scientific rigor by embracing transparency in their analysis choices and employing techniques such as sensitivity analyses to determine if their analysis choices impact the conclusions of their experiments.
Reed, D. D., Strickland, J. C., Gelino, B. W., Hursh, S. R., Jarmolowicz, D. P., Kaplan, B. A., & Amlung, M. T. (2022). Applied behavioral economics and public health policies: Historical precedence and translational promise. Behavioural Processes, 198, 104640. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104640
Abstract
Behavioral economics is an approach to understanding behavior though integrating behavioral psychology and microeconomic principles. Advances in behavioral economics have resulted in quick-to-administer tasks to assess discounting (i.e., decrements in the subjective value of a commodity due to delayed or probabilistic receipt) and demand (i.e., effort exerted to defend baseline consumption of a commodity amidst increasing constraints)-these tasks are built upon decades of foundational work from the experimental analysis of behavior and exhibit adequate psychometric properties. We propose that the behavioral economic approach is particularly well suited, then, for experimentally evaluating potential public policy decisions, particularly during urgent times or crises. Using examples from our collaborations (e.g., cannabis legalization, happy hour alcohol pricing, severe weather alerts, COVID-19 vaccine marketing), we demonstrate how behavioral economic approaches have rendered novel insights to guide policy development and garnered widespread attention outside of academia. We conclude with implications on multidisciplinary work and other areas in need of behavioral economic investigations.
Rzeszutek, M. J., Gipson-Reichardt, C. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2022). Using crowdsourcing to study the differential effects of cross-drug withdrawal for cigarettes and opioids in a behavioral economic demand framework. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 30(4), 452-465. doi: 10.1037/pha0000558
Abstract
Smoking rates among those who use prescribed or recreational opioids are significantly higher than the general population. Hypothesized neuropharmacological interactions between opioids and nicotine may contribute to this pattern of polysubstance use, especially during withdrawal. However, little research has examined how the withdrawal of one substance may affect the consumption of the other (i.e., cross-drug withdrawal effects). Behavioral economic demand tasks (e.g., hypothetical purchase tasks) can be used to quickly assess the value of a drug. Crowdsourcing can be a convenient tool to gain preliminary insight into different processes in substance valuation that may otherwise be impossible or prohibitively difficult to study. The purpose of the present study was to provide a preliminary examination of the effects of hypothetical withdrawal of cigarettes and opioids on the consumption of those drugs among polysubstance users. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers who reported daily smoking and at least monthly opioid use completed a series of hypothetical purchase tasks for doses of opioids and cigarettes under various withdrawal conditions. Sensitivity to the price of both drugs decreased when under withdrawal for either, indicating a higher drug value of cigarettes and opioids due to effects of cross-drug withdrawal. Nicotine and opioid dependence severity, impulsive choice, and riskiness were also positively related to drug purchasing.
Gilroy, S. P., Waits, J. A., & Kaplan, B. A. (2022). Applications of operant demand to treatment selection I: Characterizing demand for evidence-based practices. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 117(1), 20-35. doi: 10.1002/jeab.731
Abstract
Various treatment approaches have been determined efficacious for improving child behavior outcomes. Despite a variety of evidence‐based options, consumers often disregard empirically supported treatments to pursue alternatives that lack empirical support, such as ‘fad' therapies. The choice to pursue therapies lacking empirical support has been considered a ‘gamble’ on therapeutic outcomes and this form of risky choice has historically been explained using various cognitive heuristics and biases. This report translates quantitative analyses from the Operant Demand Framework to characterize how caregivers of children with behavioral issues consume treatment services. The Operant Demand Framework is presented, its utility for characterizing patterns of treatment consumption is discussed, and a preliminary application of cross‐price analyses of demand is performed to illustrate how various factors jointly influence treatment‐related choice. Results indicated that caregivers endorsing interest in receiving behavioral parent training regularly pursued pseudoscientific alternatives as a functional substitute for an established therapy, despite explicit language stating a lack of evidence. These findings question the presumption of rationality in models of treatment choice and degree to which scientific evidence influences the consumption of therapies. This report concludes with a discussion of Consumer Behavior Analysis and how quantitative analyses of behavior can be used to better understand factors that enhance or detract from the dissemination of evidence‐based practices.
Brown, J. M., Washington, W. D., Stein, J. S., & Kaplan, B. A. (2022). The gym membership purchase task: Early evidence towards establishment of a novel hypothetical purchase task. The Psychological Record, 72, 371-381. doi: 10.1007/s40732-021-00475-w
Abstract
Hypothetical purchase tasks are a widely used tool to determine the reinforcing value of commodities, especially commodities which are difficult to deliver experimentally. Amazon Mechanical Turk users (N = 375) completed two novel hypothetical purchase tasks (quantity of purchase and probability of purchase) and other measures to estimate how much an individual values the opportunity to exercise in a gym. We examined correlations between demand indices generated by each task and measures related to physical activity. In addition, we compared rates of systematic and nonsystematic responding between the two tasks. Exploratory analyses of demand indices and measures of physical activity suggest initial evidence of construct validity for each task. When accounting for an order effect, the probability of purchase task generated significantly lower rates of nonsystematic responding compared to the quantity of purchase task (2.87% vs. 14.6%, respectively). We discuss how these results may inform improved construction of future hypothetical purchase tasks and implications for using likelihood and quantity purchase tasks.
Koffarnus, M. N., Kablinger, A. S., Kaplan, B. A., & Crill, E. M. (2021). Remotely administered incentive-based treatment for alcohol use disorder with participant-funded incentives is effective but less accessible to low-income participants. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 29(5), 555-565. doi: 10.1037/pha0000503
Abstract
The delivery of monetary incentives contingent on verified abstinence is an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder. However, incentive cost has often been cited as a barrier to delivering this type of treatment. In the present randomized parallel groups trial, we systematically replicated a previous trial we conducted that employed remote alcohol monitoring and incentive delivery to promote abstinence from alcohol, but with the additional requirement for participants to partially self-fund their abstinence incentives. Treatment-seeking participants with alcohol use disorder (n = 92) who met inclusion criteria (n = 36) were randomized to either a Contingent or Noncontingent group (n = 18 each). Those not meeting inclusion criteria included 15 participants who agreed to the deposit requirement but failed to make the deposit payment. The Contingent group received nearly immediate monetary incentives each day they remotely provided negative breathalyzer samples. The Noncontingent group received matched incentives each day they successfully provided samples independent of alcohol content. Days abstinent in the Contingent group were 86%, which was significantly higher than the 44% recorded in the Noncontingent group, corresponding to an odds ratio of 8.2. Exploratory analyses revealed that the deposit requirement prevented participation in those with lower incomes and those with greater alcohol use. These results support the efficacy of this remotely deliverable alcohol abstinence reinforcement incentive intervention with a deposit requirement. However, the requirement to provide a monetary deposit to self-fund abstinence incentives may prevent those with greater alcohol use and/or those experiencing extreme poverty from participating in the intervention.
Freitas-Lemos, R., Stein, J. S., Tegge, A. N., Kaplan, B. A., Heckman, B. W., Cummings, K. M., & Bickel, W. K. (2021). The Illegal Experimental Tobacco Marketplace I: Effects of vaping product bans. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 23(1), 1744-1753. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab088
Abstract
Objectives Banning vaping products may have unintended outcomes, such as increased demand for illegal products. This study experimentally examined the effects of a vaping ban and a flavored vaping ban on the probability of purchasing illicit vaping products, and factors affecting purchasing from a hypothetical illegal marketplace. Methods A crowdsourced sample of exclusive cigarette smokers, exclusive e-cigarette users, and frequent dual users (n = 150) completed hypothetical purchasing trials in an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace under three conditions (no ban, vaping ban, and flavored vaping ban). Participants chose to purchase in a hypothetical legal experimental tobacco marketplace (LETM) or illegal experimental tobacco marketplace (IETM). Vaping products were available in each marketplace depending on the condition. Other tobacco products were always available in the LETM. A hypothetical illicit purchase task with five fine amounts assessed the effect of monetary penalties. Results Participants from all groups were more likely to purchase from the IETM when product availability in the LETM was more restricted, with e-cigarette users being most affected. The likelihood of purchasing illegal products was systematically decreased as monetary penalties associated with the IETM increased, with e-cigarette users showing greater persistence in defending their illicit purchases. Conclusions Restricting vaping products from the marketplace may shift preference towards purchasing vaping products in the illegal marketplace. Nevertheless, penalties imposed on consumer’s behavior might be effective in preventing illicit trade. The IETM is a methodological extension that supports the utility and flexibility of the ETM as a framework for understanding the impact of different tobacco regulatory policies. Implications This study suggests that limiting or banning vaping products as a possible strategy to reduce the adverse effects of vaping products could result in some tobacco-users seeking banned products from illegal sources. Monetary fines were shown to reduce illegal purchases. Therefore, policymakers should consider implementing strategies that may mitigate illegal purchases.
Kaplan, B. A., Franck, C. T., McKee, K., Gilroy, S. P., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2021). Applying mixed-effects modeling to behavioral economic demand: An introduction. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 44(2), 333-358. doi: 10.1007/s40614-021-00299-7
Abstract
Behavioral economic demand methodology is increasingly being used in various fields such as substance use and consumer behavior analysis. Traditional analytical techniques to fitting demand data have proven useful yet some of these approaches require preprocessing of data, ignore dependence in the data, and present statistical limitations. We term these approaches "fit to group" and "two stage" with the former interested in group or population level estimates and the latter interested in individual subject estimates. As an extension to these regression techniques, mixed-effect (or multilevel) modeling can serve as an improvement over these traditional methods. Notable benefits include providing simultaneous group (i.e., population) level estimates (with more accurate standard errors) and individual level predictions while accommodating the inclusion of "nonsystematic" response sets and covariates. These models can also accommodate complex experimental designs including repeated measures. The goal of this article is to introduce and provide a high-level overview of mixed-effects modeling techniques applied to behavioral economic demand data. We compare and contrast results from traditional techniques to that of the mixed-effects models across two datasets differing in species and experimental design. We discuss the relative benefits and drawbacks of these approaches and provide access to statistical code and data to support the analytical replicability of the comparisons. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-021-00299-7.
Kaplan, B. A., Koffarnus, M. N., Franck, C. T., & Bickel, W. K. (2021). Effects of reduced-nicotine cigarettes across regulatory environments in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: A randomized trial. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 23(7), 1123-1132. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa226
Abstract
Introduction Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Recent efforts have explored the potential health and policy benefits of reducing nicotine, an addictive component, in combustible cigarettes. To date, an experimental, prospective analysis directly comparing the effects of varying regulatory environments on purchases of multiple products has yet to be conducted. The present study compared real purchasing of conventional cigarettes, reduced-nicotine cigarettes, and a variety of other nicotine and tobacco products across a range of regulatory environments. Methods Participants were assigned to one of five groups, each associated with a different nicotine level (mg of nicotine to g of tobacco) in SPECTRUM investigational cigarettes (15.8, 5.2, 2.4, 1.3, and 0.4 mg/g). Across sessions, participants made real purchases for nicotine/tobacco products in an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace. Each session corresponded with a distinct regulatory environment wherein different nicotine/tobacco products were available for purchase. Results Our results suggest that the primary drivers of cigarette and nicotine purchasing are regulatory environment and the presence/absence of alternative nicotine and tobacco products. Perhaps surprisingly, nicotine level does not appear to be such a driver of purchasing behavior under these experimental conditions. Investigational cigarette purchasing is lowest when other preferred combustible products are available and highest when investigational cigarettes are the only combustible product available for purchase. Conclusions If a reduced-nicotine policy is implemented, great care should be taken in determining and making available less-harmful nicotine/tobacco products as the availability of preferred combustible products may result in undesirable levels of purchasing. Implications This is the first experimental study investigating different potential regulatory effects related to a reduced-nicotine policy by examining purchasing across a range of nicotine/tobacco products. Our results suggest the presence of affordable, highly preferred combustible products is likely to maintain tobacco purchasing at undesirable levels. To promote switching to less-harmful products, affordable alternate nicotine and tobacco products should be readily available. Finally, our results suggest that the availability of noncigarette products, not cigarette nicotine level, will most likely affect purchasing of reduced-nicotine cigarettes.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., Schwartz, L. P., Reed, D. D., & Hursh, S. R. (2021). A zero‐bounded model of operant demand. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 115(3), 729-746. doi: 10.1002/jeab.679
Abstract
Contemporary approaches for evaluating the demand for reinforcers use either the Exponential or the Exponentiated model of operant demand, both derived from the framework of Hursh and Silberberg (2008). This report summarizes the strengths and complications of this framework and proposes a novel implementation. This novel implementation incorporates earlier strengths and resolves existing shortcomings that are due to the use of a logarithmic scale for consumption. The Inverse Hyperbolic Sine (IHS) transformation is reviewed and evaluated as a replacement for the logarithmic scale in models of operant demand. Modeling consumption in the “log 10 ‐like” IHS scale reflects relative changes in consumption (as with a log scale) and accommodates a true zero bound (i.e., zero consumption values). The presence of a zero bound obviates the need for a separate span parameter (i.e., k) and the span of the model may be more simply defined by maximum demand at zero price (i.e., Q 0). Further, this reformulated model serves to decouple the exponential rate constant (i.e., α) from variations in span, thus normalizing the rate constant to the span of consumption in IHS units and permitting comparisons when spans vary. This model, called the Zero‐bounded Exponential (ZBE), is evaluated using simulated and real‐world data. The direct reinstatement ZBE model showed strong correspondence with empirical indicators of demand and with a normalization of α (ZBEn) across empirical data that varied in reinforcing efficacy (dose, time to onset of peak effects). Future directions in demand curve analysis are discussed with recommendations for additional replication and exploration of scales beyond the logarithm when accommodating zero consumption data.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., & Reed, D. D. (2020). Interpretation(s) of elasticity in operant demand. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 114(1), 106-115. doi: 10.1002/jeab.610
Abstract
This brief report provides an account of varying interpretations of elasticity (η) in the operant demand framework. General references to “demand elasticity” have existed since the Exponential model of operant demand was proposed by Hursh and Silberberg (2008). This term has been used interchangeably with Essential Value (EV), P MAX, and the rate of change constant α. This report provides an in‐depth account of η and the various ways in which this metric has been used to interpret fitted demand functions. A review of relevant mathematic terms, operations associated with differentiating parameters, and worked solutions for η are provided for linear and nonlinear demand functions. The relations between η and EV, P MAX, and α are described and explained in terms of their mathematical bases and recommendations are provided regarding their individual interpretation. This report concludes with recommendations for providing additional mathematical detail in published works and emphasizing a consistent use of terms when describing aspects of operant demand.
Gilroy, S. P. & Kaplan, B. A. (2020). Modeling treatment-related decision-making using applied behavioral economics: Caregiver perspectives in temporally-extended behavioral treatments. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(5), 607-618. doi: 10.1007/s10802-020-00619-6
Abstract
Evidence-based behavioral therapies for children with disruptive and challenging behavior rarely yield immediate improvements in behavior. For caregivers participating in behavioral therapies, the benefits from these efforts are seldom visible until after substantial time commitments. Delays associated with relief from challenging behavior (i.e., improved behavior) can influence how caregivers decide to respond to instances of problem behavior, and in turn, their continued commitment (i.e., integrity, adherence) to treatments that require long-term implementation to produce improvements in child behavior. This study applied delay discounting methods to evaluate how delays affected caregiver preferences related to options for managing their child's behavior. Specifically, methods were designed to evaluate the degree to which caregiver preferences for a more efficacious, recommended approach was affected by delays (i.e., numbers of weeks in treatment). That is, methods evaluated at which point caregivers opted to disregard the optimal, delayed strategy and instead elected to pursue suboptimal, immediate strategies. Results indicated that caregivers regularly discounted the value of the more efficacious treatment, electing to pursue suboptimal approaches when delays associated with the optimal approach grew larger. Caregivers demonstrated similar patterns of suboptimal choice across both clinical (i.e., intervention) and non-clinical (i.e., monetary) types of decisions. These findings are consistent with research that has highlighted temporal preferences as an individual factor that may be relevant to caregiver adherence to long-term evidence-based treatments and encourage the incorporation of behavioral economic methods to better understand caregiver decision-making.
Reed, D. D., Naudé, G. P., Salzar, A. R., Peper, M., Monroe-Gulick, A. L., Gelino, B. W., Harsin, J. D., Foster, R. N. S., Nighbor, T. D., Kaplan, B. A., Koffarnus, M. N., & Higgins, S. T. (2020). Behavioral economic measurement of cigarette demand: A descriptive review of published approaches to the Cigarette Purchase Task. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 28(6), 688-705. doi: 10.1037/pha0000347
Abstract
The cigarette purchase task (CPT) is a behavioral economic method for assessing demand for cigarettes. Growing interest in behavioral correlates of tobacco use in clinical and general populations as well as empirical efforts to inform policy has seen an increase in published articles employing the CPT. Accordingly, an examination of the published methods and procedures for obtaining these behavioral economic metrics is timely. The purpose of this investigation was to provide a review of published approaches to using the CPT. We searched specific Boolean operators (["behavioral economic" AND "purchase task"] OR ["demand" AND "cigarette"]) and identified 49 empirical articles published through the year 2018 that reported administering a CPT. Articles were coded for participant characteristics (e.g., sample size, population type, age), CPT task structure (e.g., price framing, number and sequence of prices; vignettes, contextual factors), and data analytic approach (e.g., method of generating indices of cigarette demand). Results of this review indicate no standard approach to administering the CPT and underscore the need for replicability of these behavioral economic measures for the purpose of guiding clinical and policy decisions.
Pope, D. A., Poe, L., Stein, J. S., Kaplan, B. A., DeHart, W. B., Mellis, A. M., Heckman, B. W., Epstein, L. H., Chaloupka, F. J., & Bickel, W. K. (2020). The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: Demand and substitutability as a function of cigarette taxes and e-cigarette subsidies. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 22(5), 782-790. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntz116
Abstract
Introduction The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) approximates real-world situations by estimating the effects of several, concurrently available products and policies on budgeted purchasing. Although the effects of increasing cigarette price on potentially less harmful substitutability are well documented, the effects of other, nuanced pricing policies remain speculative. This study used the ETM as a tool to assess the effects of two pricing policies, conventional cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization, on demand and substitutability. Methods During sampling periods, participants were provided 2-day samples of 24 mg/mL e-liquid, after which ETM purchase sessions occurred. Across two ETM sessions, conventional cigarettes were taxed or e-liquid was subsidized in combination with increasing cigarette price. The other four available products were always price constant and not taxed or subsidized. Results E-liquid functioned as a substitute for conventional cigarettes across all conditions. Increasing cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization increased the number of participants for which e-liquid functioned as a substitute. Cigarette taxation decreased cigarette demand, by decreasing demand intensity, and marginally increased the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect the functions’ slopes (substitutability). E-liquid subsidization resulted in large increases in the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect e-liquid substitutability nor cigarette demand. Implications 24 mg/mL e-cigarette e-liquid was the only product to significantly substitute for cigarettes in at least one condition throughout the experiment; it functioned as a significant substitute throughout all four tax and all four subsidy conditions. Increasing cigarette taxes decreased cigarette demand through decreases in demand intensity but did not affect e-cigarette substitution. Increasing e-liquid subsidies increased e-liquid initial intensity of substitution but did not affect cigarette demand. Conclusions This study extended research on the behavioral economics of conventional cigarette demand and e-liquid substitutability in a complex marketplace. The results suggest that the most efficacious method to decrease conventional cigarette purchasing and increase e-liquid purchasing may involve greatly increasing cigarette taxes while also increasing the value of e-liquid through potentially less harmful product subsidization or differential taxation.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Hantula, D. A., & Hursh, S. R. (2019). An exact solution for unit elasticity in the exponential model of demand. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(6), 588-597. doi: 10.1037/pha0000268
Abstract
Research applying the behavioral economic demand framework is increasingly conducted across disciplines. With respect to psychopharmacology and substance abuse, real and hypothetical purchase tasks are regularly used to evaluate the demand for various substances and reinforcers, such as alcohol. At present, a variety of methods has been introduced to solve for the point of unit elasticity, or Pmax, in the exponential model of demand; however, these methods vary in their potential for error. Current methods for determining Pmax are presented here and a novel exact solution for Pmax in the exponential model of demand is introduced. This solution provides an exact calculation of Pmax using the omega function, as algebraic solutions are not possible. This novel approach is introduced, discussed, and systematically compared to earlier methods for determining Pmax using computer simulations and reanalyses of published study data. Systematic comparison indicated that this new approach, an exact analytic solution for Pmax, provides results that are identical to computationally intensive Pmax methods that directly evaluate the slope of the demand function. The exact analytic Pmax approach is reviewed, its calculations explained, and an easy-to-use web tool is provided to assist researchers in easily performing this calculation of Pmax. Implications for reducing potential sources of error are reviewed and future directions are also discussed.
Gilroy, S. P., & Kaplan, B. A. (2019). Furthering Open Science in Behavior Analysis: An introduction and tutorial for using GitHub in research. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 42(3), 565-581. doi: 10.1007/s40614-019-00202-5
Abstract
Open and transparent practices in scholarly research are increasingly encouraged by academic journals and funding agencies. Various elements of behavior analytic research are communicated transparently, though it is not common practice to archive study materials to support future replications. This tutorial presents a review of the Transparent and Open Practices guidelines provided by the Open Science Foundation and provides instructions on how behavior analysts can use GitHub transparency in research across multiple levels. GitHub is presented as a service that can be used to publicly archive various elements of research and is uniquely suited to research that is technical, data driven, and collaborative. The GitHub platform is reviewed, and the steps necessary to create an account, initialize repositories, archive study files, and synchronize changes to remote repositories are described in several examples. Implications of increased calls for transparency and modern statistical methods are discussed with regard to behavior analysis, and archiving platforms such as GitHub are reviewed as one means of supporting transparent research.
Kaplan, B. A., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2019). Timeline Followback self-reports underestimate alcohol use prior to successful contingency management treatment. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 54(3), 258-263. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agz031
Abstract
Aims: Alcohol consumption is a modifiable and plausible risk factor for age-related cognitive decline but more longitudinal studies investigating the association are needed. Our aims were to estimate associations of adult-life alcohol consumption and consumption patterns with age-related cognitive decline. Methods: We investigated the associations of self-reported adult-life weekly alcohol consumption and weekly extreme binge drinking (≥10 units on the same occasion) with changes in test scores on an identical validated test of intelligence completed in early adulthood and late midlife in 2498 Danish men from the Lifestyle and Cognition Follow-up study 2015. Analyses were adjusted for year of birth, retest interval, baseline IQ, education and smoking. Results: Men with adult-life alcohol consumption of more than 28 units/week had a larger decline in IQ scores from early adulthood to late midlife than men consuming 1-14 units/week (B29-35units/week = -3.6; P < 0.001). Likewise, a 1-year increase in weekly extreme binge drinking was associated with a 0.12-point decline in IQ scores (P < 0.001). Weekly extreme binge drinking explained more variance in IQ changes than average weekly consumption. In analyses including mutual adjustment of weekly extreme binge drinking and average weekly alcohol consumption, the estimated IQ decline associated with extreme binge drinking was largely unaffected, whereas the association with weekly alcohol consumption became non-significant. Conclusions: Adult-life heavy alcohol consumption and extreme binge drinking appear to be associated with larger cognitive decline in men. Moreover, extreme binge drinking may be more important than weekly alcohol consumption in relation to cognitive decline.
Kaplan, B. A., Pope, D. A., DeHart, W. B., Stein, J. S., Bickel, W. K., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2019). Estimating uptake for reduced-nicotine cigarettes using behavioral economics. Tobacco Regulatory Science, 5(3), 264-279. doi: 10.18001/TRS.5.3.5
Abstract
Objectives: Lowering the nicotine content in combustible cigarettes may be a viable strategy for reducing dependence and toxin exposure. Understanding how marketing and education may affect initial uptake is an important avenue of inquiry prior to any policy change. There has yet to be an investigation of how framing reductions in nicotine may affect intentions to purchase and consume these cigarettes using the behavioral economic framework. Methods: Participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed several tasks, including the Cigarette Purchase Task and Experimental Tobacco Marketplace, under conditions in which a new, reduced-nicotine cigarette alternative is the only cigarette available. Results: Cigarette purchasing was largely unaffected by stated nicotine concentration, but lower concentrations suggested the potential of small estimated compensatory purchasing. Exposure to a narrative detailing how others have perceived the negative subjective effects of lower nicotine cigarettes (eg, less satisfaction) significantly reduced the perceived value of cigarettes. Conclusions: These results suggest information about nicotine content alone is unlikely to reduce initial uptake without accompanying narratives about the effects of this reduced-nicotine content.
Kaplan, B. A., Gilroy, S. P., Reed. D. D., Koffarnus, M. N., & Hursh, S. R. (2019). The R package beezdemand: Behavioral Economic Easy Demand. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 42(1), 163-180. doi: 10.1007/s40614-018-00187-7
Abstract
beezdemand: Behavioral Economic Easy Demand, a novel package for performing behavioral economic analyses, is introduced and evaluated. beezdemand extends the statistical program to facilitate many of the analyses performed in studies of behavioral economic demand. The package supports commonly used options for modeling operant demand and performs data screening, fits models of demand, and calculates numerous measures relevant to applied behavioral economists. The free and open source beezdemand package is compared to commercially available software (i.e., GraphPad Prism™) using peer-reviewed and simulated data. The results of this study indicated that beezdemand provides results consistent with commonly used commercial software but provides a wider range of methods and functionality desirable to behavioral economic researchers. A brief overview of the package is presented, its functionality is demonstrated, and considerations for its use are discussed.
DeHart, W. B., & Kaplan, B. A. (2019). Applying mixed-effects modeling to single-subject designs: An introduction. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 111(2), 192-206. doi: 10.1002/jeab.507
Abstract
Behavior analysis and statistical inference have shared a conflicted relationship for over fifty years. However, a significant portion of this conflict is directed toward statistical tests (e.g., t ‐tests, ANOVA) that aggregate group and/or temporal variability into means and standard deviations and as a result remove much of the data important to behavior analysts. Mixed‐effects modeling, a more recently developed statistical test, addresses many of the limitations of more basic tests by incorporating random effects. Random effects quantify individual subject variability without eliminating it from the model, hence producing a model that can predict both group and individual behavior. We present the results of a generalized linear mixed‐effects model applied to single‐subject data taken from Ackerlund Brandt, Dozier, Juanico, Laudont, & Mick, 2015, in which children chose from one of three reinforcers for completing a task. Results of the mixed‐effects modeling are consistent with visual analyses and importantly provide a statistical framework to predict individual behavior without requiring aggregation. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results and provide recommendations for further integration of mixed‐effects models in the analyses of single‐subject designs.
DeHart, W. B, Kaplan, B. A., Pope, D. A., Mellis, A. M., & Bickel, W. K. (2019). The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: Narratives engage cognitive biases to increase electronic cigarette substitution. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 197, 203-211. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.01.020
Abstract
Background: The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) is a digital storefront in which participants can purchase tobacco products using an account balance that reflects their typical tobacco product purchasing. The ETM is also an ideal resource to investigate the harm-reduction potential of alternative nicotine products such as e-cigarettes. In a series of experiments, we explored the effects of harm-reduction narratives that encouraged e-cigarette substitution of conventional cigarettes in the ETM. These narratives incorporated different cognitive biases in order to determine which strategy is most effective. Methods: In both experiments, participants, recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, read a narrative about a friend that either falls ill or faces financial difficulties and then made purchases in the ETM. Some of these narratives specifically incorporated different cognitive biases including trusting authority. Across ETM trials, the price of conventional cigarettes increased while the price of the alternative products, including e-cigarettes, remained constant. Results: Across both experiments, a general pattern emerged supporting the effectiveness of narratives in increasing e-cigarette purchasing. Importantly, from a harm-reduction perspective, this increase in e-cigarette substitution frequently corresponded with a decrease in conventional cigarette purchasing. Conclusions: Narratives can decrease conventional cigarette and increase e-cigarette purchasing in an ETM that mimics real-world marketplaces. Invoking different cognitive biases may bolster this effect. Narratives can be a valuable harm-reduction tool because they are cost-effective, can be widely disseminated, and can be personalized to individuals.
Athamneh, L. N., DeHart, W. B., Pope, D. A., Mellis, A. M., Snider, S. E., Kaplan, B. A., & Bickel, W. K. (2019). The Phenotype of Recovery III: Delay discounting predicts abstinence self-efficacy among individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 33(3), 310-317. doi: 10.1037/adb0000460
Abstract
Abstinence self-efficacy (ASE) and delay discounting predict treatment outcomes and risk of relapse. Associations between delay discounting and ASE among individuals in recovery from substance use have not been investigated. Data from 216 individuals in recovery from substance abuse recruited from The International Quit & Recovery Registry, an ongoing online data collection program used to understand addiction and how people succeed in recovery, were included in the analysis. Discounting rates were assessed using an adjusting-delay task, and ASE was assessed using the Relapse Situation Efficacy Questionnaire (RSEQ). Delay discounting was a significant predictor of ASE, even after controlling for age, gender, race, ethnicity, annual income, education level, marital status, and primary addiction. Context-specific factors of relapse included Negative Affect, Positive Affect, Restrictive Situations (to drug use), Idle Time, Social-Food Situations, Low Arousal, and Craving. A principal component analysis of RSEQ factors in the current sample revealed that self-efficacy scores were primarily unidimensional and not situation specific. The current study expands the generality of delay discounting and indicates that discounting rates predict ASE among individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. This finding supports the recent characterizations of delay discounting as a candidate behavioral marker of addiction and may serve as a basis to better identify and target subgroups that need unique or more intensive interventions to address higher risks of relapse and increase their likelihood of abstinence.
Pope, D. A., Poe, L., Stein, J. S., Kaplan, B. A., Heckman, B. W., Epstein, L. H., & Bickel, W. K. (2019). Experimental tobacco marketplace: Substitutability of e-cigarette liquid for cigarettes as a function of nicotine strength. Tobacco Control, 28(2), 206-211. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-054024
Abstract
Background The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) provides a method to estimate, prior to implementation, the effects of new products or policies on purchasing across various products in a complex tobacco marketplace. We used the ETM to examine the relationship between nicotine strength and substitutability of alternative products for cigarettes to contribute to the literature on regulation of e-liquid nicotine strength. Methods The present study contained four sampling and four ETM purchasing sessions. During sampling sessions, participants were provided 1 of 4 e-liquid strengths (randomised) to sample for 2 days followed by an ETM purchasing session. The nicotine strength sampled in the 2 days prior to an ETM session was the same strength available for purchase in the next ETM. Each participant sampled and could purchase 0 mg/mL, 6 mg/mL, 12 mg/mL and 24 mg/mL e-liquid, among other products, during the study. Results Cigarette demand was unaltered across e-liquid strength. E-liquid was the only product to substitute for cigarettes across more than one e-liquid strength. Substitutability increased as a function of e-liquid strength, with the 24 mg/mL displaying the greatest substitutability of all products. Conclusions The present study found that e-liquid substitutability increased with nicotine strength, at least up to 24 mg/mL e-liquid. However, the effects of e-liquid nicotine strength on cigarette purchasing were marginal and total nicotine purchased increased as e-liquid nicotine strength increased.
McKerchar, T. L., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Suggs, S. A., & Franck, C. T. (2019). Discounting environmental outcomes: Temporal and probabilistic air-quality gains and losses. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 19(3), 273-280. doi: 10.1037/bar0000138
Abstract
Much human choice and decision-making research has employed a discounting framework to help aid our understanding of how time, uncertainty, and other factors influence an outcome’s value. Most of this research, however, is limited to the study of monetary outcomes. The purpose of the present study w
Liese, B. S., Atchley, P., Reed, D. D., Benau, E. M., Becirevic, A., & Kaplan, B. A. (2019). The Self-perception of Text-message Dependency Scale (STDS): Psychometric update based on a United States sample. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 45, 42-50. doi: 10.1080/00952990.2018.1465572
Abstract
Background: Some have suggested that text messaging is an addictive behavior. However, this characterization is uncertain, partly due to lack of well-validated measures of text messaging attitudes and behaviors. One standard instrument for measuring text messaging attitudes and behaviors is the Self-perception of Text-message Dependency Scale (STDS), though the psychometric properties of this scale have only been examined with a sample of Japanese youth. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the STDS in the United States to determine its utility as a measure of text messaging dependence. We were interested in examining the factor structure and determining the extent to which this scale would correlate with two important outcome measures: motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and moving violations. Methods: We analyzed data from 468 adults (age 18-74; 274 women) recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk) service. Participants completed the STDS and provided information about their driving-related incidents in the past year. Results: First we performed a confirmatory factor analysis, which supported the instrument's original factor structure. Then we tested the relationship between scores on the STDS and two important variables, MVAs and moving violations. We found that the STDS significantly correlated with both MVAs and moving violations. Conclusion: The present study confirms that the STDS is a potentially useful instrument for studying texting dependence in the United States and with adults of all ages. The instrument may be particularly useful in predicting motor vehicle outcomes.
DeHart, W. B, Kaplan, B. A., Pope, D. A., Mellis, A. M., & Bickel, W. K. (2019). The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: Narrative influence on electronic cigarette substitution. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(2), 115-124. doi: 10.1037/pha0000233
Abstract
Despite promising decreases in overall smoking rates, a significant proportion of the population continues to engage in this costly behavior. Substituting e-cigarettes for conventional cigarettes is an increasingly popular harm-reduction strategy. Narratives may be one method of increasing the substitutability of e-cigarettes. Participants (N = 160) were assigned to 1 of 4 narratives that described a close friend becoming ill. In the positive narrative, participants read about a friend that became ill but learned it was only the flu. In the negative narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes; in the negative regret narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes and explicitly expressed regret for having started smoking; and in the negative change narrative, the friend became ill from smoking, switched to e-cigarettes, and made a full recovery. Participants then completed an experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) in which they could purchase conventional cigarettes and alternative nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Across ETM trials, the price of conventional cigarettes increased while the price of the alternative products remained constant. Initial purchasing of conventional cigarettes decreased and initial purchasing of e-cigarettes increased in the negative-change group compared with the other three groups. This finding was moderated by conventional cigarette dependence and perception of e-cigarette risk but not previous e-cigarette exposure. Narratives can change conventional cigarette and e-cigarette purchasing in an ETM that mimics real-world marketplaces. Narratives can be a valuable harm-reduction tool because they are cost-effective, can be widely disseminated, and can be personalized to individuals.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., Reed. D. D., Koffarnus, M. N., & Hantula, D. A. (2018). The Demand Curve Analyzer: Behavioral economic software for applied researchers. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 110, 553-568. doi: 10.1002/jeab.479
Abstract
Free and open‐source software for applying models of operant demand called the Demand Curve Analyzer (DCA) was developed and systematically evaluated for use in research. The software was constructed to streamline the use of recommended screening measures, prepare suitable scaling parameters, fit one of several models of operant demand, and provide publication‐quality figures. The DCA allows users to easily import price and consumption data into spreadsheet‐based controls and to perform statistical modeling with the aid of a graphical user interface. The results from computer simulations and reanalyses of published study data indicated that the DCA provides results consistent with commercially available software that has been traditionally used to apply these analyses (i.e., GraphPadTM Prism). Further, the DCA provides additional functionality that other statistical packages do not include. Practical issues and future directions related to the determination of scaling parameter k, screening for nonsystematic data, and the incorporation of more advanced behavioral economic methods are also discussed.
Kaplan, B. A., Foster, R. N. S., Reed, D. D., Amlung, M., Murphy, J. G., & MacKillop, J. (2018). Understanding alcohol motivation using the Alcohol Purchase Task: A methodological systematic review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 191, 117-140. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.06.029
Abstract
Background: The Alcohol Purchase Task (APT) is a behavioral economic assessment of alcohol demand (i.e., motivation for consumption during escalating levels of response cost) using simulated marketplace survey techniques. While the APT is often used and widely cited, to date, there has yet to be a systematic review elucidating the variability in administering and analyzing the APT. The purpose of the current paper is to address this knowledge gap in the literature by cataloging the various purchase task methodologies and providing recommendations and future areas of inquiry. Methods: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology was utilized (Prospero: No. CRD42017072159). Searches through Google Scholar, PsychINFO, PubMed, and SpringerLink databases identified 47 empirical articles referencing the use of an APT and published through the year 2016. Articles were coded for demographic and procedural characteristics, structural characteristics of the APT itself, and characteristics of data analysis. Results: Results indicate substantial variation within categories and suggest that there is no standard approach to administering the APT or analyzing the responses generated from it. The results underscore the need for researchers to report as much information as possible related to administration, instructions, price structuring, and analytical approach, as we found that many articles did not provide these details. Conclusion: Enhancing the transparency of APT methods and analyses in published reports will aid in reproducibility as well as future meta-analytic studies of alcohol demand that could lead to the development of best-practice recommendations for this procedure.
Bickel, W. K., Pope, D. A., Kaplan, B. A., DeHart, W. B., Koffarnus, M. N., & Stein, J. S. (2018). Electronic cigarette substitution in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: A review. Preventative Medicine, 117, 98-106. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.04.026
Abstract
The evolution of science derives, in part, from the development and use of new methods and techniques. Here, we discuss one development that may have impact on the understanding of tobacco regulatory science: namely, the application of behavioral economics to the complex tobacco marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to review studies that examine conditions impacting the degree to which electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products substitute for conventional cigarettes in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM). Collectively, the following factors constitute the current experimental understanding of conditions that will affect ENDS use and substitution for conventional cigarettes: increasing the base price of conventional cigarettes, increasing taxation of conventional cigarettes, subsidizing the price of ENDS products, increasing ENDS nicotine strength, and providing narratives that illustrate the potential health benefits of ENDS consumption in lieu of conventional cigarettes. Each of these factors are likely moderated by consumer characteristics, which include prior ENDS use, ENDS use risk perception, and gender. Overall, the ETM provides a unique method to explore and identify the conditions by which various nicotine products may interact with one another that mimics the real world. In addition, the ETM permits the efficacy of a broad range of potential nicotine policies and regulations to be measured prior to governmental implementation.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., & Leader, G. (2018). A systematic review of applied behavioral economics in assessments and treatments for individuals with developmental disabilities. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 5(3), 247-259. doi: 10.1007/s40489-018-0136-6
Abstract
Treatments for individuals with developmental disabilities regularly include assessments of individual choice and preference. These procedures assist in the development, design, and maintenance of effective, evidence-based practices. Despite widespread use, these assessments may or may not accurately identify reinforcers that will be effective in treatments. Procedures and analyses from the area of behavioral economics have been proposed to address this potential source of error, although these procedures are observed relatively infrequently in the current literature. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the elements of behavioral economics that have and have not been incorporated into assessments or treatments for individuals with disabilities. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology was utilized (Prospero: #CRD42017069859) to systematically search the literature and the Scopus, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink databases were included. Studies were included if their procedures used behavioral economics and if those procedures were used with individuals with developmental disabilities. Twenty-two studies were identified and the results of this review indicated that only a limited range of behavioral economic procedures have been translated into assessments and treatments for individuals with developmental disabilities. This review discusses the degrees to which these procedures have been extended to this population and outlines additional research and replication to further aide in the translation of these procedures into applied practice.
Naudé, G. P., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Henley, A. J., & DiGennaro Reed, F. D. (2018). Temporal framing and the hidden-zero effect: Rate-dependent outcomes on delay discounting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 109(3), 506-519. doi: 10.1002/jeab.328
Abstract
Recent research suggests that presenting time intervals as units (e.g., days) or as specific dates, can modulate the degree to which humans discount delayed outcomes. Another framing effect involves explicitly stating that choosing a smaller–sooner reward is mutually exclusive to receiving a larger–later reward, thus presenting choices as an extended sequence. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 201) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire in a 2 (delay framing) by 2 (zero framing) design. Regression suggested a main effect of delay, but not zero, framing after accounting for other demographic variables and manipulations. We observed a rate‐dependent effect for the date‐framing group, such that those with initially steep discounting exhibited greater sensitivity to the manipulation than those with initially shallow discounting. Subsequent analyses suggest these effects cannot be explained by regression to the mean. Experiment 2 addressed the possibility that the null effect of zero framing was due to within‐subject exposure to the hidden‐ and explicit‐zero conditions. A new Amazon Mechanical Turk sample completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire in either hidden‐ or explicit‐zero formats. Analyses revealed a main effect of reward magnitude, but not zero framing, suggesting potential limitations to the generality of the hidden‐zero effect.
Kaplan, B. A., Gelino, B. W., & Reed, D. D. (2018). A behavioral economic approach to green consumerism: Demand for reusable shopping bags. Behavior & Social Issues, 27, 20-30. doi: 10.5210/bsi.v27i0.8003
Abstract
The success of behavioral economics is underscored by its emerging role in informing public policy. While applied behavioral economics has almost exclusively investigated pharmacological issues or the reinforcing efficacy of stimuli used in educational and clinical settings, we propose that this technology can be applied to the understanding and promotion of sustainable purchases in the American marketplace. Many communities have begun to adopt measures promoting such sustainable purchasing, but a conceptual understanding of proper pricing for these “green” products is lacking. An empirical foundation upon which to model prices can aid in generating revenue for distributors while simultaneously nudging sustainable decision-making on the part of the consumer. This report describes a study that successfully translates behavioral economic concepts to demand for sustainable products. A secondary contribution is the demonstration of relations between behavioral economic demand indices and scores on the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (i.e., construct validity), a renowned scale used by environmental psychologists and ecological economists.
Kaplan, B. A. & Reed, D. D. (2018). Happy hour drink specials in the alcohol purchase task. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 26(2), 156-167. doi: 10.1037/pha0000174
Abstract
There is strong evidence to suggest that happy hour drink specials are associated with undesirable outcomes such as increased amount of drinking, increased likelihood of being highly intoxicated, and increased likelihood of experiencing negative outcomes related to drinking (e.g., getting into fights). Public policy efforts have been made to ban or at least restrict alcohol drink specials. Research in behavioral economics-primarily demand curve analyses-has yielded valuable insights into the role of environmental effects on reinforcer consumption, especially within the context of alcohol reinforcement. The use of the Alcohol Purchase Task (APT), which asks respondents to report how many alcoholic drinks they would be willing to purchase at various prices, has contributed greatly to these efforts. The purpose of the current experiment was to determine whether self-reported consumption of alcohol on an APT changes when participants imagine a hypothetical "happy hour" scenario, akin to drink specials encountered in the real world. Results from the current experiment extend previous literature on APT vignette manipulations and provide implications for efforts to reduce problematic drinking.
Koffarnus, M. N. & Kaplan, B. A. (2018). Clinical models of decision making in addiction. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 164, 71-83. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2017.08.010
Abstract
As research on decision making in addiction accumulates, it is increasingly clear that decision-making processes are dysfunctional in addiction and that this dysfunction may be fundamental to the initiation and maintenance of addictive behavior. How drug-dependent individuals value and choose among drug and nondrug rewards is consistently different from non-dependent individuals. The present review focuses on the assessment of decision-making in addiction. We cover the common behavioral tasks that have shown to be fruitful in decision-making research and highlight analytical and graphical considerations, when available, to facilitate comparisons within and among studies. Delay discounting tasks, drug demand tasks, drug choice tasks, the Iowa Gambling Task, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task are included.
Morris, V., Amlung, M., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Petker, T., & MacKillop, J. (2017). Using crowdsourcing to examine behavioral economic measures of alcohol value and proportionate alcohol reinforcement. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 25(4), 314-321. doi: 10.1037/pha0000130
Abstract
Online crowdsourcing websites such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) are increasingly being used in addictions research. However, there is a relative paucity of such research examining the validity of administering behavioral economic alcohol-related measures, via an online crowdsourcing platform. This study sought to validate an alcohol purchase task (APT) for assessing demand and a questionnaire measure of proportionate alcohol reinforcement, using an online sample of participants recruited via MTurk. Participants (N = 865, 59% female) were recruited via MTurk to complete the APT, proportionate alcohol reinforcement questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and demographics. Responses on the APT were highly systematic (<3% nonsystematic data) and conformed to prototypical demand curves. Correlation analyses revealed significant associations among AUDIT total scores with a majority of the alcohol demand indices (r values.08-53, p values <.05) as well as proportionate alcohol reinforcement, r =.43, p <.001. Regression analyses controlling for relevant covariates indicated that intensity, BP, Omax, elasticity, and reinforcement ratio predicted significant variance in AUDIT scores. This study further supports the use of online crowdsourcing websites for investigating behavioral economic determinants of alcohol misuse.
Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Murphy, J. G., Henley, A. J., DiGennaro Reed, F. D., Roma, P. G., & Hursh, S. R. (2017). Time constraints in the alcohol purchase task. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 25(3), 186-197. doi: 10.1037/pha0000110
Abstract
Hypothetical purchase tasks have advanced behavioral economic evaluations of demand by circumventing practical and ethical restrictions associated with delivering drug reinforcers to participants. Numerous studies examining the reliability and validity of purchase task methodology suggest that it is a valuable method for assessing demand that warrants continued use and evaluation. Within the literature examining purchase tasks, the alcohol purchase task (APT) has received the most investigation, and currently represents the most experimentally validated variant. However, inconsistencies in purchase task methodology between studies exist, even within APT studies, and, to date, none have assessed the influence of experimental economic constraints on responding. This study examined changes in Q0 (reported consumption when drinks are free), breakpoint (price that suppresses consumption), and α (rate of change in demand elasticity) in the presence of different hypothetical durations of access to alcohol in an APT. One hundred seventy-nine participants (94 males, 85 females) from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed 3 APTs that varied in the duration of time at a party (i.e., access to alcoholic beverages) as described in the APT instructions (i.e., vignette). The 3 durations included 5-hr (used by Murphy et al., 2013), 1-hr, and 9-hr time frames. We found that hypothetical duration of access was significantly related to Q0 and breakpoint at the individual level. Additionally, group-level mean α decreased significantly with increases in duration of access, thus indicating relatively higher demand for alcohol with longer durations of access. We discuss implications for conducting hypothetical purchase task research and alcohol misuse prevention efforts.
Miller, J. R., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., & White, L. D. (2017). Effects of array size on preschoolers’ preference and engagement: A behavioral translation of choice overload. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 17, 74-83. doi: 10.1037/bar0000067
Abstract
Recent social psychology and consumer behavior research has suggested that an abundance of options in choice contexts can have detrimental effects on decision making—a phenomenon termed choice overload. This investigation sought to use behavior analytic procedures to examine the effects of numerous
Henley, A. J., DiGennaro Reed, F. D., Reed, D.D., & Kaplan, B. A. (2016). A crowdsourced nickel-and-dime approach to analog OBM research: A behavioral economic framework for understanding workforce attrition. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 106, 134-144. doi: 10.1002/jeab.220
Abstract
Incentives are a popular method to achieve desired employee performance; however, research on optimal incentive magnitude is lacking. Behavioral economic demand curves model persistence of responding in the face of increasing cost and may be suitable to examine the reinforcing value of incentives on work performance. The present use‐inspired basic study integrated an experiential human operant task within a crowdsourcing platform to evaluate the applicability of behavioral economics for quantifying changes in workforce attrition. Participants included 88 Amazon Mechanical Turk Workers who earned either a $0.05 or $0.10 incentive for completing a progressively increasing response requirement. Analyses revealed statistically significant differences in breakpoint between the two groups. Additionally, a novel translation of the Kaplan‐Meier survival‐curve analyses for use within a demand curve framework allowed for examination of elasticity of workforce attrition. Results indicate greater inelastic attrition in the $0.05 group. We discuss the benefits of a behavioral economic approach to modeling employee behavior, how the metrics obtained from the elasticity of workforce attrition analyses (e.g., P max) may be used to set goals for employee behavior while balancing organizational costs, and how economy type may have influenced observed outcomes.
Kaplan, B. A., Amlung, M., Reed, D. D., Jarmolowicz, D. P., McKerchar, T. L., & Lemley, S. M. (2016). Automating scoring of delay discounting for the 21- and 27-item Monetary Choice Questionnaires. The Behavior Analyst, 39, 293-304. doi: 10.1007/s40614-016-0070-9
Abstract
Delay discounting describes the process wherein rewards lose value as a function of their delayed receipt; how quickly rewards lose value is termed the rate of delay discounting. Rates of delay discounting are robust predictors of much behavior of societal importance. One efficient approach to obtaining a human subject's rate of delay discounting is via the 21- and 27-item Monetary Choice Questionnaires, brief dichotomous choice tasks that assess preference between small immediate and larger delayed monetary outcomes. Unfortunately, the scoring procedures for the Monetary Choice Questionnaires are rather complex, which may serve as a barrier to their use. This report details a freely available Excel-based spreadsheet tool that automatically scores Monetary Choice Questionnaire response sets, using both traditional and contemporary/advanced approaches. An overview of the Monetary Choice Questionnaire and its scoring algorithm is provided. We conclude with general considerations for using the spreadsheet tool.
Lemley, S. M., Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., Darden, A. C., & Jarmolowicz, D. P. (2016). Reinforcer pathologies: Predicting alcohol related problems in college drinking men and women. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 167, 57-66. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.07.025
Abstract
Background: Alcohol use in college is common, and problematic consequences of alcohol may affect college men and women differently. Approaches within behavioral economics have been used to improve our understanding of alcohol use in college students. Methods: The current study assessed relations between college students' delay discounting, demand for alcohol, and alcohol problems as measured by the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (YAACQ). In this study, 80 college drinkers completed a monetary choice questionnaire that assessed delay discounting of money, a novel beer choice questionnaire that evaluated delay discounting of beer, and an alcohol purchase task that measured demand for alcohol. Results: Behavioral economic measures associated with the reinforcer pathologies model (i.e., demand and discounting) predicted alcohol consequences as measured by the YAACQ. For men, these significant predictor variables included money discounting, beer discounting, and intensity of alcohol demand, whereas for women money discounting and essential value were significant predictors. Conclusions: These findings highlight the utility of the reinforcer pathologies approach for the study of alcohol use and the importance of considering gender differences in examining college drinking.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., Becirevic, A., Roma, P. G., & Hursh, S. R. (2016). Toward quantifying the abuse liability of ultraviolet tanning: A behavioral economic approach to tanning addiction. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 106, 93-106. doi: 10.1002/jeab.216
Abstract
Many adults engage in ultraviolet indoor tanning despite evidence of its association with skin cancer. The constellation of behaviors associated with ultraviolet indoor tanning is analogous to that in other behavioral addictions. Despite a growing literature on ultraviolet indoor tanning as an addiction, there remains no consensus on how to identify ultraviolet indoor tanning addictive tendencies. The purpose of the present study was to translate a behavioral economic task more commonly used in substance abuse to quantify the "abuse liability" of ultraviolet indoor tanning, establish construct validity, and determine convergent validity with the most commonly used diagnostic tools for ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction (i.e., mCAGE and m DSM‐IV‐TR). We conducted a between‐groups study using a novel hypothetical Tanning Purchase Task to quantify intensity and elasticity of ultraviolet indoor tanning demand and permit statistical comparisons with the mCAGE and m DSM‐IV‐TR. Results suggest that behavioral economic demand is related to ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction status and adequately discriminates between potential addicted individuals from nonaddicted individuals. Moreover, we provide evidence that the Tanning Purchase Task renders behavioral economic indicators that are relevant to public health research. The present findings are limited to two ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction tools and a relatively small sample of high‐risk ultraviolet indoor tanning users; however, these pilot data demonstrate the potential for behavioral economic assessment tools as diagnostic and research aids in ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction studies.
Henley, A. J., DiGennaro Reed, F. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Reed, D. D. (2016). Quantifying efficacy of workplace reinforcers: An application of behavioral economic demand to evaluate hypothetical work performance. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2, 174-183. doi: 10.1037/tps0000068
Abstract
Behavioral economics is an approach to understanding decision making and behavior using principles of behavioral science and economics (Hursh, 1980). An area of investigation in behavioral economics includes evaluating demand for a commodity (such as drug and nondrug reinforcers), given changes in p
Reed, D. D., Becirevic, A., Atchley, P., Kaplan, B. A., & Liese, B. S. (2016). Validation of a novel delay discounting of text messaging questionnaire. The Psychological Record, 66, 253-261. doi: 10.1007/s40732-016-0167-2
Abstract
Using cellular phones for text messaging has become a ubiquitous mode of communication in today’s American culture. Text messaging has become a primary source of relationship development and maintenance for many Americans, especially youth. Researchers have begun classifying excessive reliance on text messaging as an addictive behavior, which may lead to risky activities such as texting while driving. This study interprets texting dependence within a behavioral economics framework of addictive behavior and proposes a novel Delay Discounting of Texting Questionnaire (DDTQ). The DDTQ involves a hypothetical scenario wherein the respondent chooses between paying for an immediate text now and waiting to receive a free text message in the future. We validated the DDTQ using a relatively diverse crowdsourced sample from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The DDTQ demonstrated expected degrees of systematic discounting and yielded higher rates of delay discounting with reward values in a within-subjects evaluation of the magnitude effect. Finally, the DDTQ successfully discriminated different profiles of possible text-messaging dependence. Collectively, these findings suggest the DDTQ is a viable task for use in studying the behavioral economics of possible text-messaging dependence.
Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., & Jarmolowicz, D. P. (2016). Effects of episodic future thinking on discounting: Personalized age-progressed pictures improve risky long-term health decisions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49, 148-169. doi: 10.1002/jaba.277
Abstract
Many everyday choices are associated with both delayed and probabilistic outcomes. The temporal attention hypothesis suggests that individuals' decision making can be improved by focusing attention on temporally distal events and implies that environmental manipulations that bring temporally distal outcomes into focus may alter an individual's degree of discounting. One such manipulation, episodic future thinking, has shown to lower discount rates; however, several questions remain about the applicability of episodic future thinking to domains other than delay discounting. The present experiments examine the effects of a modified episodic‐future‐thinking procedure in which participants viewed age‐progressed computer‐generated images of themselves and answered questions related to their future, on probability discounting in the context of both a delayed health gain and loss. Results indicate that modified episodic future thinking effectively altered individuals' degree of discounting in the predicted directions and demonstrate the applicability of episodic future thinking to decision making of socially significant outcomes.
Reed, D. D., Yanagita, B. Y., Becirevic, A., & Kaplan, B. A. (2014). Consumer foraging for safer tanning alternatives: A naturally occurring experiment on informational reinforcement in the UK. European Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 15, 241-248. doi: 10.1080/15021149.2014.11434724
Abstract
In this study, we examined whether ultra-violet indoor tanning (UVIT) bans for minors in the United Kingdom increased consumer foraging for spray tanning – a safer alternative to UVIT. Research suggests that the use of UVIT can result in an increased likelihood of developing skin cancer and/or indoor tanning addiction, and is predictive of other maladaptive behaviors (Reed, 2015). Furthermore, an increased prevalence in indoor tanning among minors correlates with health complications later in life (Wehner et al., 2012). Using data from Google Trends, we constructed a natural multiple baseline investigation to demonstrate that searches for spray tans increased as a function of the UVIT legislation. Findings suggest that spray tanning may serve as a substitute for UVIT, offering implications for behavioral economic approaches to policies aimed at decreasing UVIT in the United States.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., Roma, P. G., & Hursh, S. R. (2014). Inter-method reliability of progression sizes in a fuel hypothetical purchase task: Implications for empirical public policy. The Psychological Record, 64, 671-679. doi: 10.1007/s40732-014-0076-1
Abstract
Advances in behavioral economic research methodology have generated novel insights into public policy considerations regarding substance use and addiction. A major advancement toward this end was the development of hypothetical purchase tasks (HPTs) that permit modeling of consumption and demand without the need for actual purchases and lengthy human operant studies comprised of real reward deliveries. Psychometric research in the domain of behavioral pharmacology suggests that the HPT has adequate test–retest reliability, as well as construct and convergent/divergent validity. Research to date has exclusively examined pharmacological commodities, however, necessitating the need for technology transfer to other pressing societal issues. In the present study, we examined demand for recreational driving across three groups, each consisting of a different fuel price progression size in the HPT. Findings suggest that behavioral economic models of demand do not differ as a function of progression size, providing support to the inter-method reliability of this procedure.
Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., & McKerchar, T. L. (2014). Using a visual analogue scale to assess delay, social, and probability discounting of an environmental loss. The Psychological Record, 64, 261-269. doi: 10.1007/s40732-014-0041-z
Abstract
As anthropogenic influences on climate change become more readily apparent, the role of behavioral science in understanding barriers to sustainable actions cannot be overstated. Environmental psychologists have proposed that some major barrier to sustainability are the delayed, socially distant, and probabilistic effects of public policy efforts aimed at preserving Earth’s resources. This proposal places sustainability squarely within the research topic of delay, social, and probability discounting – processes well known to behavioral scientists. To date, there has been surprisingly little behavioral research examining the role of discounting processes in environmental decision making. In the present study, we examined the degree to which simple hyperbolic models of discounting can describe college students’ ratings of concern and their willingness to act in the face of an environmental loss. Findings suggest that hyperbolic models of delay, social, and probability discounting adequately describe these self-report data. Interestingly, but sadly unsurprisingly, ratings of willingness to act were discounted more steeply than concern across delay, social, and probability discounting tasks. A greater understanding of the behavioral processes associated with sustainability can inform better public policy efforts and may bridge the gap between environmental psychology and behavior analysis.
Miller, J. R., Hirst, J. M., Kaplan, B. A., DiGennaro Reed, F. D., & Reed, D. D. (2014). Effects of mands on instructional control: A laboratory simulation. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 30, 100-112. doi: 10.1007/s40616-014-0015-x
Abstract
The effects of two types of mands on participants' adherence to instructions were examined across two groups using procedures based on Hackenberg and Joker (Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 62:367-383, 1994). Participants were presented with instructions describing a pattern of responding for producing points later exchanged for money and were exposed to choice trials in which a progressive-time (PT) and a fixed-time (FT) schedule were concurrently available. The instructions initially described how to optimize point production; however, the PT schedule was manipulated over the course of the experiment such that response patterns maximizing point production differed across conditions. All participants experienced the same experimental arrangement, and the two groups differed only in the form of the mand contained in the instructions presented to them. The instructions for the directive group contained the mand "you must…" (i.e., command) preceding the instructed response pattern, whereas the non-directive group instructions contained the mand "you might consider…" (i.e., suggestion) preceding the instructed response pattern. Results indicated that instruction type influenced response patterns across changing contingencies. The directive group exhibited greater adherence to the instruction than the non-directive group when instruction following was less profitable. Results are interpreted in terms of Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, and implications for practical application are discussed.
Hirst, J. M., Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Miller, J. R. (2013). Making it easier to be green: A single case demonstration of the effects of computer defaults to conserve energy in a university computer lab. Sustainability: Journal of Record, 6, 340-344. doi: 10.1089/sus.2013.9827
Abstract
Educational buildings and university campuses represent some of the most computer-dense settings in the United States. Unfortunately, the administrators and users in these settings often lack proper energy savings strategies, resulting in excessive energy waste. Research in behavioral economics has reliably shown that effort is an inhibitory factor in changing a variety of behaviors. That is, humans have a tendency to choose the option that requires the least amount of effort, regardless of whether that option is the best one. Thus, it might be inferred that interventions requiring greater effort for computer users to conserve energy are unlikely to be effective. This study highlights a successful cost-cutting application of default energy savings settings in a campus computer-testing laboratory. Default settings applied by the research team did not require effort on the part of users and resulted in computers powering-down after a relatively short period of inactivity. A cost analysis revealed modest fiscal and electricity savings among the small number of computers included in the study. However, extrapolating these modest savings across the many hundreds of workstations typically found on university campuses suggests a substantial savings would result from the adoption of the intervention described herein. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Reed, D. D., Partington, S. W., Kaplan, B. A., Roma, P. G., & Hursh, S. R. (2013). Behavioral economic analysis of demand for fuel in North American transportation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 651-655. doi: 10.1002/jaba.64
Abstract
Emerging research clearly indicates that human behavior is contributing to climate change, notably, the use of fossil fuels as a form of energy for everyday behaviors. This dependence on oil in North America has led to assertions that the current level of demand is the social equivalent to an "addiction." The purpose of this study was to apply behavioral economic demand curves-a broadly applicable method of evaluating relative reinforcer efficacy in behavioral models of addiction-to North American oil consumption to examine whether such claims of oil addiction are warranted. Toward this end, we examined government data from the United States and Canada on per capita energy consumption for transportation and oil prices between 1995 and 2008. Our findings indicate that consumption either persisted or simultaneously increased despite sharp increases in oil price per barrel over the past decade.
Kaplan, B. A. & Reed, D. D. (2013). Decision processes in choice overload: A product of delay and probability discounting? Behavioural Processes, 97, 21-24. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.04.001
Abstract
Recent research in the behavioral decision making literature has demonstrated that humans hyperbolically discount the subjective value of options as the number of options increases (Reed et al., 2012). These findings provide a cognitive-behavioral synthesis of the "choice overload" phenomenon, also known as the "paradox of choice." Specifically, these findings suggest that temporal discounting may serve as the underlying process contributing to this effect. As an extension, this study examined the effects of reward magnitude sizes had on rates temporal and options discounting. This manipulation was conducted to determine what role temporal discounting plays in discounting of options. The present results suggest that temporal discounting may not be the only process contributing to the choice overload effect.
Reed, D. D., Niileksela, C., & Kaplan, B. A. (2013). Behavioral economics: A tutorial for behavior analysts in practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6, 34-54. doi: 10.1007/BF03391790
Abstract
In recent years, behavioral economics has gained much attention in psychology and public policy. Despite increased interest and continued basic experimental studies, the application of behavioral economics to therapeutic settings remains relatively sparse. Using examples from both basic and applied studies, we provide an overview of the principles comprising behavioral economic perspectives and discuss implications for behavior analysts in practice. A call for further translational research is provided.
Hirst, J. M., Miller, J. R., Kaplan, B. A., & Reed, D. D. (2013). Watts Up? PRO AC power meter for automated energy recording: A product review. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6, 82-95. doi: 10.1007/BF03391795
Abstract
The purpose of the present paper is to review the Watts up? Pro AC power meter. Evaluations of the meter's reliability for measuring energy consumption by consumer electronics yielded acceptable levels of reliability. Implications and limitations for the use of this product in behavior analytic research and practice are discussed.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Brewer, A. T. (2012). A tutorial on the use of Excel® 2010 and Excel® for Mac 2011 for conducting delay discounting analyses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 375-386. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2012.45-375
Abstract
In recent years, researchers and practitioners in the behavioral sciences have profited from a growing literature on delay discounting. The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a brief tutorial on how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and Excel for Mac 2011 to analyze discounting data to yield parameters for both the hyperbolic discounting model and area under the curve. This tutorial is intended to encourage the quantitative analysis of behavior in both research and applied settings by readers with relatively little formal training in nonlinear regression.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Brewer, A. T. (2012). Discounting the freedom to choose: Implications for the paradox of choice. Behavioural Processes, 90, 424-427. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2012.03.017
Abstract
Organisms prefer to make their own choices. However, emerging research from behavioral decision making sciences has demonstrated that there are boundaries to the preference for choice. Specifically, many decision makers find an extensive array of choice options to be aversive, often leading to negative emotional states and poor behavioral outcomes. This study examined the degree to which human participants discounted hypothetical rewards that were (a) delayed, (b) probabilistic, and (c) chosen from a large array of options. The present results suggest that the "paradox of choice" effect may be explained within a discounting model for individual patterns of decision making.
Reed, D. D. & Kaplan, B. A. (2011). The matching law: A tutorial for practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 4(2), 15-24. doi: 10.1007/BF03391780
Abstract
The application of the matching law has historically been limited to use as a quantitative measurement tool in the experimental analysis of behavior to describe temporally extended patterns of behavior-environment relations. In recent years, however, applications of the matching law have been translated to clinical settings and populations to gain a better understanding of how naturally-occurring events affect socially important behaviors. This tutorial provides a brief background of the conceptual foundations of matching, an overview of the various matching equations that have been used in research, and a description of how to interpret the data derived from these equations in the context of numerous examples of matching analyses conducted with socially important behavior. An appendix of resources is provided to direct readers to primary sources, as well as useful articles and books on the topic.
Reed, D. D., Skoch, J. M. J., Kaplan, B. A., & Brozyna, G. A. (2012). Desempeño defensive como un modulador del sesgo en la selección de jugadas en el football Americano colegial (trans.: Defensive performance as a modulator of biased play calling in collegiate American-rules football). Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta / Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 37(3), 51-57. url: http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-32715-005
Abstract
The present study sought to replicate and extend previous research on matching in American-rules football in an effort to identify possible explanations for biased play calling. In particular, we demonstrate a relation between defensive performance and bias (quantified via the generalized matching equation [GME]) in opponents’ play calling. Specifically, against good pass/rush defenses, opponents demonstrated a bias away from the defenses’ strengths. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of translating matching theory and the explanatory utility of the bias parameter in the GME.
Book Chapters
Kaplan, B. A. (2025). Quantitative models of operant demand. In D. D. Reed, B. A. Kaplan, & S. P. Gilroy (Eds.), Handbook of operant behavioral economics: Demand, discounting, methods, and applications (1st ed.). Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-95745-8.00008-0
Abstract
This chapter provides a guide to quantitative methods for behavioral economic demand data. I begin with a primer on regression approaches, providing the reader with intuition behind modeling. I then offer seven practical steps for conducting demand analyses using R Statistical Software, from initial data preparation through model fitting and interpretation. I demonstrate these concepts using published data from an Alcohol Purchase Task, illustrating various modeling approaches, including fit-to-group, two-stage, and mixed-effects methods. To maximize accessibility for implementing these techniques, the chapter is written in Quarto, an open-source technical publishing framework. I provide detailed code examples and visualizations while highlighting helpful tools explicitly created to aid demand curve analyses. I discuss some challenges one might encounter when conducting these analyses and provide recommendations and useful resources for further learning. This chapter serves as a practical tutorial and a theoretical overview, making it valuable for researchers at various skill levels.
Kaplan, B. A., Gilroy, S. P., DeHart, W. B., Brown, J. M., & Koffarnus, M. N. (2023). Data handling: Ethical principles, guidelines, and recommended practices. In D. J. Cox, N. Syed, M. T. Brodhead, & S. P. Quigley (Eds.) Research ethics in Behavior Analysis: From laboratory to clinic and classroom. Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-90969-3.00006-2
Abstract
Ethical data handling practices are an important—yet often overlooked—aspect of clinical work and research conduct. The chapter describes legal considerations, types of data commonly encountered by behavior analysts (e.g., highly sensitive data, potentially sensitive data, not very sensitive data), and considerations for data collection (e.g., paper, electronic) and storage. It then identifies strategies for data validation, analysis, and dissemination. Behavior analysts in clinical and research settings should consider how their organizational data handling practices reflect their ethical duty toward their clients’ or research participants’ right to confidentiality. Specifically, behavior analysts should arrange environments that increase the likelihood of compliance with ethical data handling practices.
Gilroy, S. P., Kaplan, B. A., Bullock, C. E., & Waits, J. A. (2020). Current use and development of FOSS in Behavior Analysis: Modern behavioral engineering. Introduction to programming for Behavior Analysts - Volume 2. Brazilian Association of Behavioral Psychology and Medicine.
Bickel, W. K., Athamneh, L. N., Snider, S. E., Craft, W. H., DeHart, W. B., Kaplan, B. A., & Basso, J. C. (2020). Reinforcer Pathology: Implications for Substance Abuse Intervention. Current topics in behavioral neurosciences, 10.1007/7854_2020_145.
Abstract
The rate at which individuals discount future rewards (i.e., discounting rate) is strongly associated with their propensity for substance abuse as well as myriad other negative health behaviors. An excessive preference for immediately available rewards suggests a shortened time horizon in which immediate rewards are overvalued and future, potentially negative consequences are undervalued. This review outlines Reinforcer Pathology Theory (i.e., the interaction between excessive preference for immediately available rewards and the overvaluation of a particular commodity that offers brief, intense reinforcement), its neurobiological/behavioral underpinnings, and its implications for treating substance use disorders. In doing so, the current review provides an overview of a variety of ways in which interventions have been used to manipulate aspects of reinforcer pathology in an individual, including narrative theory, framing manipulations, and neuromodulation (e.g., working memory training, TMS) which may serve as promising avenues for the modulation of the temporal window and/or valuation of reinforcers.
Reed, D. D., Yanagita, B. T, Becirevic, A., Hirst, J. M., Kaplan, B. A., Eastes, E., & Hanna, T. (2016). Actively caring for higher education. In E. S. Geller (Ed.), Applied psychology: Actively caring for people (pp. 563-593). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Reed, D. D., Kaplan, B. A., & Becirevic, A. (2015). Basic research on reinforcer value. In F. D. DiGennaro Reed & D. D. Reed (Eds.), Bridging the gap between science and practice in autism service delivery. New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2656-5_10
Abstract
Reinforcer value is a complex and multifaceted concept necessitating numerous levels of analyses and integration of both visual and quantitative approaches. This chapter summarizes the seminal basic operant laboratory work with both humans and nonhumans on this topic. In doing so, we provide the reader with numerous references and examples for prototypical approaches to the assessment and measurement of reinforcer demand and efficacy. Topics covered include: (a) basic preparations for measuring reinforcer value, (b) common design elements in evaluating reinforcer value, (c) quantitative analyses of reinforcer value, and (d) modulating factors.
Reed, D. D., Hirst, J. M., Kaplan, B. A., & Becirevic, A. (2014). The AC4P movement at the University of Kansas. In E. S. Geller (Ed.) Actively caring at your school: How to make it happen (pp. 221-229) Newport, VA: Make-A-Difference.
Reed, D. D., Luiselli, J. K., Miller, J. R., & Kaplan, B. A. (2013). Therapeutic restraint and protective holding. In D. D. Reed, F. D. DiGennaro Reed, & J. K. Luiselli (Eds.) Handbook of crisis intervention for individuals with developmental disabilities. New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-6531-7_7
Abstract
This chapter reviews the role of therapeutic restraint (TR) in clinical service delivery for behavioral crises. Behavioral crises often involve dangerous destructive behaviors that place the individual or others in harm. To protect the safety of the individual, his/her caregivers, and the environment, TR is often used in conjunction with behavioral programming. The use of TR is always a last resort approach when less invasive procedures have been unsuccessful. In this chapter, we will review (a) what constitutes TR, (b) clinical decision-making strategies when considering use of TR, (c) policy statements on TR by relevant professional organization, (d) forms of TR, (e) limitations of TR, and (f) ways to reduce the necessity and need for TR for IDD in crisis.
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