Principles of Behavior Change: Choice and Context

University Of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION: Scientific understanding of the processes underlying choice will contribute to the development of interventions that address motivation, impulsivity, treatment adherence, and health behaviors. This project investigates choice from several perspectives: (1) Operant studies examining how temporal features of reinforcement affect subsequent choices as well as the conditions under which the reinforcement values attached to particular options transfer to new contexts; (2) Studies of choices made within structured interpersonal transactions that characterize the effects of such variables as gender, age, personality, nature of reward, and temporal features of the transactions; (3) Development of methods to train people to adopt optimal choices (such as avoiding base-rate neglect), including comparisons of overt teaching versus self-induction methods. The outcomes of these studies are expected to influence the development of improved and individualized forms of behavioral and cognitive therapy as well as guide future research on the neural bases of choice.