Limits to Action

The Allocation of Individual Behavior

1st Edition - January 28, 1980
Editor: J. E. R. Staddon
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 7 6 5 4 - 0

Limits to Action: The Allocation of Individual Behavior presents the ideas and methods in the study of how individual organisms allocate their limited time and energy and the… Read more

Purchase options

LIMITED OFFER

Save 50% on book bundles

Immediately download your ebook while waiting for your print delivery. No promo code is needed.

Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect

Request a sales quote

Limits to Action: The Allocation of Individual Behavior presents the ideas and methods in the study of how individual organisms allocate their limited time and energy and the consequences of such allocation. The book is a survey of individual resource allocation, emphasizing the relationships of the concepts of utility, reinforcement, and Darwinian fitness. The chapters are arranged beginning with plants and general evolutionary considerations, through animal behavior in nature and laboratory, and ending with human behavior in suburb and institution. Topics discussed include operant conditioning; the principle of diminishing returns; and issues in relation to mating strategies. Biologists, sociologists, economists, and psychologists will find the book interesting.

Contents

List of Contributors

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Concepts of Resource Allocation and Partitioning in Plants

Resource Allocation within the Plant

Resource Partitioning among Species and Individuals

References

Chapter 2 On Uncertainty and the Law of Diminishing Returns in Evolution and Behavior

The Diminishing Value of Behavior

Uncertainty and Diversification

The Role of Diminishing Value

Uncertainty in Pollination Biology and Plant Life Histories

Uncertainty and the Evolutionary Ethological Gamble

Concluding Remarks

References

Chapter 3 On the Evolution of Alternative Mating Strategies

Mating Strategies and the Concept of Stability

The Models

Discussion

Appendix

References

Chapter 4 Optimality Analyses of Operant Behavior and Their Relation to Optimal Foraging

Optimal Choice and Allocation of Behavior to Patches

Optimal Choice and Functional Response

Conclusion

Appendix

Glossary of Symbols

References

Chapter 5 Melioration and Behavioral Allocation

Concurrent Variable-Ratio-Variable-Ratio (cone VR-VR)

Concurrent Variable Interval-Variable Ratio

Interdependent Concurrent Schedules

Melioration

Conclusion

Appendix

References

Chapter 6 Behavioral Resilience and Its Relation to Demand Functions

The Animal's Internal State

The Optimality Criterion

The Optimal Behavior When Constrained

Resilience and Elasticity of Demand

Elasticity and the Availability of "Substitutes"

Behavior and Acclimatization

Discussion

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

References

Chapter 7 Economics and Behavioral Psychology

Rational and Irrational Behavior

Psychological Economics

Empirical Economics

Experimental Economics

Maximization

Cognitive Economics (Decision Theory)

Is Behavioral Economics Worth Developing?

Appendix : Explanation of Terms

References

Chapter 8 Consumer Demand Theory Applied to Choice Behavior of Rats

Commodity Choice Theory

Experimental Procedures

Results of Income-Compensated Price Changes

Results of Income-Constant Price Changes

Conclusions

References

Chapter 9 Behavioral Economics, Token Economies, and Applied Behavior Analysis

Commonalities between Token Economies and National Economies:Income, Consumption, and Savings

The Use of Token Economies as Economics Laboratories

Applied Benefits of Using Token Economies as Economics Laboratories

Field Experiments Combining Applied Behavior Analysis and Economies

References

Index