Limits to Action

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.

Inhalt

Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Concepts of Resource Allocation and Partitioning in Plants
Resource Allocation within the Plant
Resource Partitioning among Species and Individuals
References
Chapter 2 On Uncertainty and the Law of Diminishing Returns in Evolution and Behavior
The Diminishing Value of Behavior
Uncertainty and Diversification
The Role of Diminishing Value
Uncertainty in Pollination Biology and Plant Life Histories
Uncertainty and the Evolutionary Ethological Gamble
Concluding Remarks
References
Chapter 3 On the Evolution of Alternative Mating Strategies
Mating Strategies and the Concept of Stability
The Models
Discussion
Appendix
References
Chapter 4 Optimality Analyses of Operant Behavior and Their Relation to Optimal Foraging
Optimal Choice and Allocation of Behavior to Patches
Optimal Choice and Functional Response
Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary of Symbols
References
Chapter 5 Melioration and Behavioral Allocation
Concurrent Variable-Ratio-Variable-Ratio (cone VR-VR)
Concurrent Variable Interval-Variable Ratio
Interdependent Concurrent Schedules
Melioration
Conclusion
Appendix
References
Chapter 6 Behavioral Resilience and Its Relation to Demand Functions
The Animal's Internal State
The Optimality Criterion
The Optimal Behavior When Constrained
Resilience and Elasticity of Demand
Elasticity and the Availability of "Substitutes"
Behavior and Acclimatization
Discussion
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
References
Chapter 7 Economics and Behavioral Psychology
Rational and Irrational Behavior
Psychological Economics
Empirical Economics
Experimental Economics
Maximization
Cognitive Economics (Decision Theory)
Is Behavioral Economics Worth Developing?
Appendix : Explanation of Terms
References
Chapter 8 Consumer Demand Theory Applied to Choice Behavior of Rats
Commodity Choice Theory
Experimental Procedures
Results of Income-Compensated Price Changes
Results of Income-Constant Price Changes
Conclusions
References
Chapter 9 Behavioral Economics, Token Economies, and Applied Behavior Analysis
Commonalities between Token Economies and National Economies:Income, Consumption, and Savings
The Use of Token Economies as Economics Laboratories
Applied Benefits of Using Token Economies as Economics Laboratories
Field Experiments Combining Applied Behavior Analysis and Economies
References
Index