Staddon Limits to Action

The Allocation of Individual Behavior
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4832-7654-0
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 328 Seiten, Web PDF

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Staddon, J. E. R.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;1
2;Limits to Action: The Allocation of Individual Behavior;3
3;Copyright Page;4
4;Table of Contents;5
5;List of Contributors;9
6;Preface;11
7;Acknowledgments;13
8;Introduction;15
9;CHAPTER 1. Concepts of Resource Allocation and Partitioning in Plants
;21
9.1;Resource Allocation within the Plant;22
9.2;Resource Partitioning among Species and Individuals;39
9.3;Acknowledgments;51
9.4;References;51
10;CHAPTER 2. On Uncertainty and the Law of
Diminishing Returns in
Evolution and Behavior;57
10.1;The Diminishing Value of Behavior;58
10.2;Uncertainty and Diversification;64
10.3;The Role of Diminishing Value;67
10.4;Uncertainty in Pollination Biology and Plant Life Histories;68
10.5;Uncertainty and the Evolutionary Ethological Gamble;75
10.6;Concluding Remarks;80
10.7;Acknowledgments;82
10.8;References;82
11;CHAPTER 3. On the Evolution of Alternative Mating Strategies;85
11.1;Optimal Reproductive Strategies;85
11.2;The Problem;89
11.3;Mating Strategies and the Concept of Stability;92
11.4;The Models;97
11.5;Discussion;107
11.6;Summary;116
11.7;Appendix;117
11.8;Acknowledgments;118
11.9;References;118
12;CHAPTER 4. Optimality Analyses of Operant Behavior and Their Relation to Optimal Foraging;121
12.1;Optimal Choice and Allocation of Behavior to Patches;125
12.2;Optimal Choice and Functional Response;147
12.3;Conclusion;154
12.4;Appendix;155
12.5;Glossary of Symbols;157
12.6;Acknowledgments;157
12.7;References;158
13;CHAPTER 5. Melioration and Behavioral Allocation;163
13.1;Concurrent Variable-Ratio-Variable-Ratio (cone VR-VR);166
13.2;Concurrent Variable Interval–Variable Ratio;172
13.3;Interdependent Concurrent Schedules;177
13.4;Melioration;183
13.5;Conclusion;192
13.6;Appendix;193
13.7;References;194
14;CHAPTER 6. Behavioral Resilience and Its Relation to Demand Functions;197
14.1;The Animal's Internal State;198
14.2;The Optimality Criterion;199
14.3;The Optimal Behavior when Constrained;202
14.4;Resilience and Elasticity of Demand;204
14.5;Elasticity and the Availability of "Substitutes";209
14.6;Behavior and Acclimatization;211
14.7;Discussion;217
14.8;Appendix I;218
14.9;Appendix II;219
14.10;Appendix III;220
14.11;Appendix IV;221
14.12;Acknowledgments;221
14.13;References;222
15;Chapter 7. Economics and Behavioral Psychology;225
15.1;Rational and Irrational Behavior;225
15.2;Psychological Economics;230
15.3;Empirical Economics;232
15.4;Experimental Economics;235
15.5;Maximization;242
15.6;Cognitive Economics (Decision Theory);247
15.7;Is Behavioral Economics Worth Developing?;249
15.8;Appendix: Explanation of Terms;250
15.9;Acknowledgments;253
15.10;References;253
16;CHAPTER 8. Consumer Demand Theory Applied to Choice Behavior of Rats;257
16.1;Commodity Choice Theory;258
16.2;Experimental Procedures;263
16.3;Results of Income-Compensated Price Changes;265
16.4;Results of Income-Constant Price Changes;278
16.5;Conclusions;282
16.6;Acknowledgments;284
16.7;References;287
17;CHAPTER 9. Behavioral Economics, Token Economies, and Applied Behavior Analysis;289
17.1;Commonalities between Token Economies and National Economies: Income, Consumption, and Savings;290
17.2;The Use of Token Economies as Economics Laboratories;297
17.3;Applied Benefits of Using Token Economies as Economics Laboratories;306
17.4;Field Experiments Combining Applied Behavior Analysis and Economies;308
17.5;Acknowledgments;315
17.6;References;315
18;Index;319