Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 2000 Jan;73(1):45–64. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2000.73-45

Three predictions of the economic concept of unit price in a choice context.

G J Madden 1, W K Bickel 1, E A Jacobs 1
PMCID: PMC1284761  PMID: 10682339

Abstract

Economic theory makes three predictions about consumption and response output in a choice situation: (a) When plotted on logarithmic coordinates, total consumption (i.e., summed across concurrent sources of reinforcement) should be a positively decelerating function, and total response output should be a bitonic function of unit price increases; (b) total consumption and response output should be determined by the value of the unit price ratio, independent of its cost and benefit components; and (c) when a reinforcer is available at the same unit price across all sources of reinforcement, consumption should be equal between these sources. These predictions were assessed in human cigarette smokers who earned cigarette puffs in a two-choice situation at a range of unit prices. In some sessions, smokers chose between different amounts of puffs, both available at identical unit prices. Individual subjects' data supported the first two predictions but failed to support the third. Instead, at low unit prices, the relatively larger reinforcer (and larger response requirement) was preferred, whereas at high unit prices, the smaller reinforcer (and smaller response requirement) was preferred. An expansion of unit price is proposed in which handling costs and the discounted value of reinforcers available according to ratio schedules are incorporated.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (259.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baum W. M. On two types of deviation from the matching law: bias and undermatching. J Exp Anal Behav. 1974 Jul;22(1):231–242. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-231. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bauman R. An experimental analysis of the cost of food in a closed economy. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Jul;56(1):33–50. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-33. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bickel W. K., DeGrandpre R. J., Higgins S. T., Hughes J. R. Behavioral economics of drug self-administration. I. Functional equivalence of response requirement and drug dose. Life Sci. 1990;47(17):1501–1510. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(90)90178-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bickel W. K., DeGrandpre R. J., Hughes J. R., Higgins S. T. Behavioral economics of drug self-administration. II. A unit-price analysis of cigarette smoking. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Mar;55(2):145–154. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.55-145. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bickel W. K., Hughes J. R., DeGrandpre R. J., Higgins S. T., Rizzuto P. Behavioral economics of drug self-administration. IV. The effects of response requirement on the consumption of and interaction between concurrently available coffee and cigarettes. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1992;107(2-3):211–216. doi: 10.1007/BF02245139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bickel W. K., Madden G. J. Similar consumption and responding across single and multiple sources of drug. J Exp Anal Behav. 1999 Nov;72(3):299–316. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1999.72-299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. COLLIER G., MYERS L. The loci of reinforcement. J Exp Psychol. 1961 Jan;61:57–66. doi: 10.1037/h0048851. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Carroll M. E., Carmona G. G., May S. A. Modifying drug-reinforced behavior by altering the economic conditions of the drug and a nondrug reinforcer. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Sep;56(2):361–376. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-361. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chung S. H., Herrnstein R. J. Choice and delay of reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1967 Jan;10(1):67–74. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1967.10-67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Collier G., Hirsch E., Hamlin P. H. The ecological determinants of reinforcement in the rat. Physiol Behav. 1972 Nov-Dec;9(5):705–716. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(72)90038-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. DeGrandpre R. J., Bickel W. K., Higgins S. T., Hughes J. R. A behavioral economic analysis of concurrently available money and cigarettes. J Exp Anal Behav. 1994 Mar;61(2):191–201. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1994.61-191. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. DeGrandpre R. J., Bickel W. K., Hughes J. R., Higgins S. T. Behavioral economics of drug self-administration. III. A reanalysis of the nicotine regulation hypothesis. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1992;108(1-2):1–10. doi: 10.1007/BF02245277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. DeGrandpre R. J., Bickel W. K., Hughes J. R., Layng M. P., Badger G. Unit price as a useful metric in analyzing effects of reinforcer magnitude. J Exp Anal Behav. 1993 Nov;60(3):641–666. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1993.60-641. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Fagerström K. O. Measuring degree of physical dependence to tobacco smoking with reference to individualization of treatment. Addict Behav. 1978;3(3-4):235–241. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(78)90024-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Fantino E., Squires N., Delbrück N., Peterson C. Choice behavior and the accessibility of the reinforcer. J Exp Anal Behav. 1972 Jul;18(1):35–43. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1972.18-35. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Felton M., Lyon D. O. The post-reinforcement pause. J Exp Anal Behav. 1966 Mar;9(2):131–134. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Goldberg S. R. Comparable behavior maintained under fixed-ratio and second-order schedules of food presentation, cocaine injection or d-amphetamine injection in the squirrel monkey. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1973 Jul;186(1):18–30. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Green L., Rachlin H., Hanson J. Matching and maximizing with concurrent ratio-interval schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1983 Nov;40(3):217–224. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1983.40-217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Grossbard C. L., Mazur J. E. A comparison of delays and ratio requirements in self-control choice. J Exp Anal Behav. 1986 May;45(3):305–315. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.45-305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Henningfield J. E., Griffiths R. R. Cigarette smoking and subjective response: effects of d-amphetamine. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1981 Oct;30(4):497–505. doi: 10.1038/clpt.1981.194. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Henningfield J. E., Stitzer M. L., Griffiths R. R. Expired air carbon monoxide accumulation and elimination as a function of number of cigarettes smoked. Addict Behav. 1980;5(3):265–272. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(80)90049-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Herrnstein R. J., Loveland D. H. Maximizing and matching on concurrent ratio schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1975 Jul;24(1):107–116. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1975.24-107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Herrnstein R. J. On the law of effect. J Exp Anal Behav. 1970 Mar;13(2):243–266. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1970.13-243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Hursh S. R. Economic concepts for the analysis of behavior. J Exp Anal Behav. 1980 Sep;34(2):219–238. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1980.34-219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Hursh S. R., Raslear T. G., Shurtleff D., Bauman R., Simmons L. A cost-benefit analysis of demand for food. J Exp Anal Behav. 1988 Nov;50(3):419–440. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1988.50-419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Ito M., Oyama M. Relative sensitivity to reinforcer amount and delay in a self-control choice situation. J Exp Anal Behav. 1996 Sep;66(2):219–229. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1996.66-219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Johanson C. E., Schuster C. R. A choice procedure for drug reinforcers: cocaine and methylphenidate in the rhesus monkey. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1975 May;193(2):676–688. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Logue A. W., Rodriguez M. L., Peña-Correal T. E., Mauro B. C. Choice in a self-control paradigm: Quantification of experience-based differences. J Exp Anal Behav. 1984 Jan;41(1):53–67. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1984.41-53. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Nader M. A., Hedeker D., Woolverton W. L. Behavioral economics and drug choice: effects of unit price on cocaine self-administration by monkeys. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1993 Sep;33(2):193–199. doi: 10.1016/0376-8716(93)90060-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Neuringer A. J. Effects of reinforcement magnitude on choice and rate of responding. J Exp Anal Behav. 1967 Sep;10(5):417–424. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1967.10-417. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. SHETTLEWORTH S., NEVIN J. A. RELATIVE RATE OF RESPONSE AND RELATIVE MAGNITUDE OF REINFORCEMENT IN MULTIPLE SCHEDULES. J Exp Anal Behav. 1965 Jul;8:199–202. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1965.8-199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Snyderman M. Delay and amount of reward in a concurrent chain. J Exp Anal Behav. 1983 May;39(3):437–447. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1983.39-437. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES