Least Effort and the Economics of Motivation

1. Least Effort and the Economics of Motivation Chapter 12

2. I. Principle of Least Effort • A. Cost Measures of Achievement Behavior • Energy in calories, number of responses, and time are cost measures. • B. Early Views on Effort and Motivation • 1. Principle of Least Effort and Law of Less Work • Principle of effort: Tolman's idea that the preferred route to the goal is the one requiring the least expenditure of energy. • Law of less work: Hull's idea that an organism prefers the least laborious behavior necessary to attain the reinforcer. • 2. Zipf’s Principle of Least Effort • Least effort occurs when the same word possesses several meanings andfrequently used words are shorter than infrequent words.

3. I. Principle of Least Effort • C. Behavioral Economizing • Fast-foods, shortcuts, and rules (cognitive economizing) are examples. • D. Cognitive Economizing • 1. Satisficing • A form of cognitive economizing that uses a "good-enough" criterion. • 2. Heuristics • Rules of thumb that reduce cognitive effort in problem solving and decision making. • 3. Brain Economizing • Processing resources: mental operations, e.g., memory retrieval, problemsolving, concept learning, meaning, decision making. MRI indicates that the brain economizes during problem solving.

4. I. Principle of Least Effort • E. Motivation Resources • 1. Reflex Reserve • Reinforcement builds up a reserve of responses that are available to attain an incentive. • 2. Learning Industriousness • Persistence is an acquired ability to sustain effort even in the face of the accumulation of subjective fatigue. • 3. Energy Consumption and Perceived Exertion • Perceived exertion is associated with the amount of energy (muscle glycogen) consumed. • 4. Motivational Energy from Carbohydrates • Glucose and glycogen are potential energy for the motivation. • 5. Motivation Resources and Principle of Least Effort • Effort reduces motivational resources and eventually stops motivation.

5. II. Economics of Motivation • A. Economy of the Skinner Box • Closed versus open economy • 1. Deprivation and the Law of Scarcity • Law of scarcity: Goods and services are scarce because of unlimited wants or deprivation. • 2. Money as the Missing Step • In the Skinner box, rats lever press (works) for food (commodity). Food is not an intermediate step as in human economies.

6. II. Economics of Motivation • B. Demand Law • 3. Elasticity and Response Rate • For inelastic demand, the increase in price results in increased responding,thereby producing little decline in demand. For elastic demand, theincrease in price results in decreased responding, thereby producing a dramatic decline in demand. • 4. Distribution of Instrumental Responses • The time spent instrumental responding for one reinforcer is time that cannot be spent responding for another reinforcer.

7. II. Economics of Motivation • C. Substitution Effect • Substitution effect: an increase in price of one reinforcer, leads to increased demand for a substitute reinforcer or for a complementary reinforcer but not for an independently related reinforcer. • 1. Substitution Effect among Reinforcers • How a change in price affects reinforcer demand depends on the availability of a substitute or complementary reinforcer. • 2. Substitution Effect among Behaviors • If the cost of one behavior becomes too high, a person may choose to participate in an alternative behavior.

8. II. Economics of Motivation • D. Economic Principles Characterize Many Behaviors • 1. Romantic Love • Opportunity cost: the cost of doing one thing, necessitates giving up something else. If you do X, then the opportunity cost is not doing Y. • Investment model: A person's commitment to a relationship depends on the reward, costs, investments, and alternatives. • 2. Elasticity of Mate Characteristics • The physical appearance of women is inelastic for men. The social level of men is inelastic for women. The social level of women is elastic for men. The physical appearance of men is elastic for women.

9. II. Economics of Motivation • 3. University Attendance • Student retention increased with increases in reward from and investments in their university and decreased with other alternatives. • 4. Costs and Likelihood of Helping • The likelihood of helping a homeless person decreased when the cost of helping was high compared to low. • 5. Body Consequences of Least Effort • Our least effort-tendencies result in the avoidance of energy expenditure and the adoption of energy saving devices, which lead to increases in weight, obesity, and associated health problems. • 6. Least Effort and Career Choice • Cost-benefit analysis affects career planning.