PSYC 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Behavioral Economics, Demand Curve, Store Brand
8 Apr 2020
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Document Summary
Economics is the study of the allocation of behavior within a system of constraint. In instrumental conditioning situations, the restrictions are provided by the number of responses an organism is able to make and the number of responses required to obtain each reinforcer. Price = time or total number of responses (effort) required to obtain the reinforce. Fundamental to the application of economic concepts to the problem of reinforcement is the relation between the price of a commodity and how much of it is purchased. Elastic demand curve: commodity loses value as price increases. Ineslastic demand curve: commodity is maintaining value as price increases. The degree to which price influences consumption is called elasticity of demand. Ex: if the price of candy goes up, people stop buying it but if the price for gas goes up, people will still buy it. The price of a reinforcer then is the time or number of responses required to obtain the reinforcer.
