Do NOT Read this Article: the Effects of Autoclitics and Nudge on Choosing.

The use of autoclitics can influence the behavior of individuals making choices when responding to a survey (e.g., checking or unchecking a box). In two studies, we investigated the effects of autoclitics as "nudges" on choice by manipulating different frames (opt-in and opt-out) and default options (i.e., unchecked and checked boxes). Undergraduate students recruited from behavioral science courses engaged with materials in the study. In study 1, we used an online survey at the beginning of the semester offering the choice of whether to enroll in extra-academic activities (i.e., practice tests) available via the online course platform, Blackboard. We randomly assigned students into one of four groups: 1) option to enroll with an unchecked box, 2) option to not enroll with an unchecked box, 3) option to enroll with a checked box, or 4) option to not enroll with a checked box. Results showed that the option to not enroll with an unchecked box produced higher enrollment to receive extra academic activities. In the middle of the semester, we conducted a within-subject arrangement wherein students who initially opted out of receiving activities had the option to accept them following exposure to the negative autoclitic frame. Most of these students opted into receiving activities. In study 2, we replicated the methods of study 1 in Canvas, a different course platform, and obtained similar results. We briefly discuss the implications of a nudge for ethical consent.

Extra-experimental scarcity impacts hypothetical operant demand: A natural SARS-CoV-2 eperiment.

Behavioral economic demand models quantify the extent to which an organism defends its consumption of a commodity. Commodity purchase tasks permit humans a quick yet psychometrically sound approach to assessing commodity demand for various retail products. Operant behavioral economic literature suggests economy type (open vs closed) can significantly alter demand, yet this effect is largely undocumented in the commodity purchase task literature. In this study, we leveraged the market pressures for retail goods (hand lotion and sanitizer; paper towels and toilet paper; soda and water) resulting from SARS-CoV-2 into a natural experiment comparing within-subject demand across two time-points during the pandemic using a crowdsourced approach. Results suggest that hypothetical commodity purchase tasks are sensitive to extra-experimental market pressures (e.g., scarcity due to the closing of economies), adding additional confidence to the self-report nature of purchase task responding and providing further construct validity to these approaches.

An experimental analysis of gender-biased verbal behavior and self-editing using an online chat analog.

The current study investigated the effects of female and male audiences on gender-biased verbal behavior and self-editing using an online chat environment analog. The chat analog allowed access to self-editing behaviors, which are frequently covert, thus providing additional information about verbal episodes. We examined whether the strength and the dimensions of verbal responses differentially varied across the female and male audience conditions using visual inspection and statistical analysis. Participants were 28 typically developing adults. Overt responses were recorded for interrupting, and both overt and covert responses were recorded for disagreeing, pressuring, and self-editing. Visual inspection revealed differentiated overt and covert disagreeing, pressuring, and interrupting for some participants, while statistical analysis using Fisher's exact test did not reveal significant differences in the dependent variables between audience's perceived gender and participants' gender. Differentiated responding between female and male audiences suggests that perceived gender can exert stimulus control over a speaker's behavior. Although we didn't observe consistent gender-biased responding for all the participants, our experimental evaluation functions as a proof-of-concept study that can encourage the use of this methodology to study complex social behavior.

Behavioral economic methods to inform infectious disease response: Prevention, testing, and vaccination in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The role of human behavior to thwart transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19 is evident. Psychological and behavioral science are key areas to understand decision-making processes underlying engagement in preventive health behaviors. Here we adapt well validated methods from behavioral economic discounting and demand frameworks to evaluate variables (e.g., delay, cost, probability) known to impact health behavior engagement. We examine the contribution of these mechanisms within a broader response class of behaviors reflecting adherence to public health recommendations made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four crowdsourced samples (total N = 1,366) completed individual experiments probing a response class including social (physical) distancing, facemask wearing, COVID-19 testing, and COVID-19 vaccination. We also measure the extent to which choice architecture manipulations (e.g., framing, opt-in/opt-out) may promote (or discourage) behavior engagement. We find that people are more likely to socially distance when specified activities are framed as high risk, that facemask use during social interaction decreases systematically with greater social relationship, that describing delay until testing (rather than delay until results) increases testing likelihood, and that framing vaccine safety in a positive valence improves vaccine acceptance. These findings collectively emphasize the flexibility of methods from diverse areas of behavioral science for informing public health crisis management.

Integrating Operant and Cognitive Behavioral Economics to Inform Infectious Disease Response: Prevention, Testing, and Vaccination in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The role of human behavior to thwart transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19 is evident. Yet, many areas of psychological and behavioral science are limited in the ability to mobilize to address exponential spread or provide easily translatable findings for policymakers. Here we describe how integrating methods from operant and cognitive approaches to behavioral economics can provide robust policy relevant data. Adapting well validated methods from behavioral economic discounting and demand frameworks, we evaluate in four crowdsourced samples (total N = 1,366) behavioral mechanisms underlying engagement in preventive health behaviors. We find that people are more likely to social distance when specified activities are framed as high risk, that describing delay until testing (rather than delay until results) increases testing likelihood, and that framing vaccine safety in a positive valence improves vaccine acceptance. These findings collectively emphasize the flexibility of methods from diverse areas of behavioral science for informing public health crisis management.

An annotated bibliography of verbal behavior articles published outside of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior: 2016.

An annotated bibliography is provided that summarizes journal articles on verbal behavior published outside of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior in 2016, the primary journal for scholarship in this area. Thirty-seven such articles were identified and annotated as a resource for practitioners, researchers, and educators.