Discussion:
The text presents the concept of behavioral economics as being a key strategy used in the intervention of substance abuse disorders. Discuss your perspective on whether you believe it can have a significant impact in one's decision making when it comes to their health. Include support for your position.
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE WITH MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS? (A MININUM OF 100 WORDS)
CLASSMATE'S POST
Behavioral economics involves the application of basic economic concepts and approaches to the study of a person's decisions and choices. Ranging from basic operant learning approaches, it was in 1990s, that the application of behavioral economics to the field of substance abuse and related disorders began. This approach recorded some significant success in relating substance price to the quantity of drug-taking behavior. This research domain was able to use controls in comparison of the tradeoffs between immediate and delayed results in terms of making decisions for those with a dependence problem.
Behavioral economics has contributed and has made significant breakthroughs in the understanding of excessive substance use and the relevant disorders associated through the use of reinforcer pathology concept. This refers to the joint effects of (a) the excessive preference for the immediate acquisition or consumption of a commodity despite long-term negative outcomes and the persistently high valuation of a reinforcer, broadly defined to include tangible commodities and experiences, From the perspective of this concept, reinforcer pathology results from the recursive interactions of endogenous individual-level variables and exogenous environment-level factors.
Demand for a commodity contributes to choices drug-dependent individuals will make to obtain the reinforcer that contributed to their pathology; indeed, the individual may at times select the substance over opportunities that may have afforded greater long-term advantages.
Commodities can always interact in one of three ways that describe a continuum. At one end of the continuum, commodities can function as substitutes; that is, as the prices of the substances like alcohol increases and its consumption decreases, consumption increases for another substitute commodity.
Behavioral economics, reinforcers can also interact in terms of Opportunity cost. This refers to situations where options are mutually exclusive; that is, the selection of one commodity or substance entirely depends on the availability or unavailability of the other. In my perspective, behavioral economics can greatly impact individual decisions when it comes to demand, supply, prices and the opportunity cost.
Reference: Bickel, W. K., Johnson, M. W., Koffarnus, M. N., Mackillop, J., & Murphy, J. G. (2014). The Behavioral Economics of Substance Use Disorders: Reinforcement Pathologies and Their Repair. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10(1), 641-677.