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Previous discounting research has focused on relatively simple situations (e.g., choosing between immediate and delayed gains, or between immediate and delayed losses) and the relations among amount, delay, and subjective value in such situations are now well established. Many everyday choice situations, however, are more complex, involving alternatives that combine gains and losses. In two experiments, participants discounted a monetary outcome that combined an immediate gain with a delayed loss. Consistent with the discounting framework, the value of the combination was approximately equal to the difference between the (undiscounted) value of the immediate gain and the (discounted) value of the delayed loss. More precise predictions of the relative subjective value of the delayed loss component of a combination were given by the same hyperboloid function that describes discounting in simple choice situations where outcomes only involve gains or losses, not both. As in previous studies, when the outcome was a simple one consisting of only a delayed loss, discounting was not affected by the amount of that loss. Surprisingly, however, when the loss was preceded by a gain, the degree to which the combination was discounted was affected by the amount of the loss. Notably, discounting of the delayed loss component of the combination decreased with the amount of the loss in a fashion similar to that observed with simple delayed gains, where smaller amounts are discounted more steeply than larger amounts. Choice situations involving immediate gains followed by delayed losses pose iconic self‐control problems, and the present findings support the application of the discounting framework to these important everyday problems.

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AbstractThe multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment is commonly used to identify potential reinforcers. In this arrangement, individuals can choose the order in which they consume edibles or activities. The item selected first is often designated the highest preferred, and the item selected last is often designated the least preferred. Scattered reports suggest that some individuals may save the best for last in an MSWO. Despite these reports, few systematic evaluations of “saving the best for last” in the MSWO have been conducted. We examined this phenomenon using an MSWO and progressive‐ratio‐reinforcer assessment. Evidence of “saving the best for last” was obtained for one of four individuals across assessments involving edibles and leisure activities, respectively.

This study evaluated use of the Caught Being Good Game (CBGG) across two adolescent student populations, maintaining a focus on the provision of feedback during the game. The CBGG, a variation of the group contingency intervention the Good Behavior Game (GBG), is a classroom management intervention that involves the provision of points to teams of students who follow class rules. Feedback was manipulated during the game to ascertain whether immediate visual feedback was always necessary. The CBGG was presented with and without immediate visual feedback across phases, using a multiple treatment reversal design. Intervention conditions were counterbalanced across two classrooms of mainstream adolescent students. Data were collected on academically engaged and disruptive behaviors. The CBGG was generally effective in targeting these behaviors in both classrooms, with some differential effects apparent for CBGG versions across classrooms. This provides further support for the use of the CBGG as a positive classroom management technique and as an alternative to the classic GBG. The findings also suggest that teachers may choose whether to use feedback or not during the CBGG, which may save them time and increase buy-in by incorporating an opportunity for some autonomy in game implementation.

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) are an impactful problem characterized by chronic relapse and engagement in drug‐related behaviors at the expense of non‐drug behaviors. Brain regions implicated in drug and non‐drug‐related behaviors often overlap, complicating investigations of neurobiological mechanisms underlying SUDs. Here we presented a within‐subject model for studying self‐administration, reinforcer competition, extinction, and cued reinstatement of cocaine‐ and food‐seeking in rats. Due to differences in cocaine‐ and food‐reinforced behavior, we transformed data to proportions of baseline, revealing increased resistance to extinction and disproportionately greater cued reinstatement of cocaine seeking relative to food seeking. Consistent with previous reports, females showed greater preference for cocaine reinforcement than males, though these findings failed to reach statistical significance. To demonstrate the model's utility for investigating neurobiological mechanisms, we included proof‐of‐concept calcium imaging data demonstrating the utility of the behavioral model for detecting cellular activity patterns associated with cocaine‐ and food‐seeking behaviors. Future studies utilizing this model should improve understanding of the development and expression of pathological behaviors characteristic of SUDs in humans, sex differences in these behaviors, and their neurobiological correlates. Thus, the model has utility for improving understanding of SUDs, leading to novel treatments to reduce the pathological behaviors associated with SUDs.

Single‐case experimental designs (SCEDs) are rarely used in behavioral neuroscience despite their potential benefits. The current study used a SCED to evaluate the effects of dietary protein restriction in C57BL/6J and Fgf21‐knockout (KO) mice on body weight, food consumption, and protein preference and changes in those outcome measures were quantified using multilevel linear models. In C57BL/6J mice, rate of weight gain was lower and food consumption and protein preference higher during periods of low (4% kcal) protein diet feeding compared to periods of normal (18% kcal) protein diet feeding. In Fgf21‐KO mice, who do not produce the liver‐derived hormone FGF21, rate of weight gain and protein preference were not substantially affected by diet although food consumption was slightly higher during periods of low protein diet than periods of normal protein diet. These results demonstrate that protein restriction dynamically regulates physiological and behavioral responses at the individual mouse level and that FGF21 is necessary for those responses. Further, the current results demonstrate how a SCED can be used in behavioral neuroscience research, which entails both scientific and practical benefits.