TY - JOUR
T1 - The behavioral economics of substance use disorders
T2 - Reinforcement pathologies and their repair
AU - Bickel, Warren K.
AU - Johnson, Matthew W.
AU - Koffarnus, Mikhail N.
AU - MacKillop, James
AU - Murphy, James G.
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - The field of behavioral economics has made important inroads into the understanding of substance use disorders through the concept of reorcer pathology. Reorcer pathology refers to the joint effects of (a) the persistently high valuation of a reorcer, broadly defined to include tangible commodities and experiences, and/or (b) the excessive preference for the immediate acquisition or consumption of a commodity despite long-term negative outcomes. From this perspective, reorcer pathology results from the recursive interactions of endogenous person-level variables and exogenous environment-level factors. The current review describes the basic principles of behavioral economics that are central to reorcer pathology, the processes that engender reorcer pathology, and the approaches and procedures that can repair reorcement pathologies. The overall goal of this review is to present a new understanding of substance use disorders as viewed by recent advances in behavioral economics.
AB - The field of behavioral economics has made important inroads into the understanding of substance use disorders through the concept of reorcer pathology. Reorcer pathology refers to the joint effects of (a) the persistently high valuation of a reorcer, broadly defined to include tangible commodities and experiences, and/or (b) the excessive preference for the immediate acquisition or consumption of a commodity despite long-term negative outcomes. From this perspective, reorcer pathology results from the recursive interactions of endogenous person-level variables and exogenous environment-level factors. The current review describes the basic principles of behavioral economics that are central to reorcer pathology, the processes that engender reorcer pathology, and the approaches and procedures that can repair reorcement pathologies. The overall goal of this review is to present a new understanding of substance use disorders as viewed by recent advances in behavioral economics.
KW - Addiction
KW - Behavior economics
KW - Discounting
KW - Elasticity of demand
KW - Reinforcer pathology
KW - Treatment
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U2 - 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153724
DO - 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153724
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24679180
AN - SCOPUS:84897415608
SN - 1548-5943
VL - 10
SP - 641
EP - 677
JO - Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
JF - Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
ER -
