Session 17: A Behavioral Economics Primer with Dr. Derek Reed

What does risky sex, drug use, and even indoor tanning have in common? Fortunately Derek Reed joins me in Session 17 to provide a tutorial of sorts on behavioral economics, which helps to explain how these (and many other) "problems of consumption," are influenced by behavior-environment relationships.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Derek runs the Applied Behavioral Economics Laboratory at the University of Kansas, and has extensive experience across a wide range of behavior analytic niches. For example, during the interview, he tells the story of how within the first semester of studying Behavior Analysis, he was doing everything from providing services to children in applied settings while also working in an animal laboratory.

He also describes some of his research on how people choose to partake in indoor tanning, and explains some of the behavioral economic principles that influence such decisions. Although we get, "into the weeds," as it relates to discussing concepts from the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Derek expertly translates many of these ideas into language that is, in the end, quite accessible. Even if you have no interest in EAB, I believe that there are take-home messages for Behavior Analysts in all settings. To that end, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Objectives of this training:

  1. The learner will be able to describe what is meant by, ‘reinforcer consumption.’
  2. The learner will be able to provide examples of the term, ‘unit price,’ as it is used in the context of this podcast episode.
  3. The learner will be able to define what is meant by, ‘elasticity.’
  4. The learner will be able to define and provide examples of, ‘delay discounting.’

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