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Examining the Utility of Behavioral Economic Demand in Addiction Science University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Psychology Psychology 2019 EXAMINING THE UTILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC DEMAND IN ADDICTION SCIENCE Justin Charles Strickland University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.030 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Strickland, Justin Charles, "EXAMINING THE UTILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC DEMAND IN ADDICTION SCIENCE" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Psychology. 154. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/154 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Psychology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Justin Charles Strickland, Student Dr. William W. Stoops, Major Professor Dr. Mark T. Fillmore, Director of Graduate Studies EXAMINING THE UTILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC DEMAND IN ADDICTION SCIENCE _______________________________ DISSERTATION _______________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Justin Charles Strickland Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. William W. Stoops, Professor of Psychology Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Justin Charles Strickland 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION EXAMINING THE UTILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC DEMAND IN ADDICTION SCIENCE The marriage of perspectives from behavioral economic theory and learning theory has the potential to advance an understanding of substance use and substance use disorder. Behavioral economic demand is a central concept to this interdisciplinary approach. Evaluating demand in the laboratory and clinic can improve previous research on the relative reinforcing effects of drugs by accounting for the multi-dimensional nature of reinforcement rather than viewing reinforcement as a unitary construct. Recent advances in the commodity purchase task methodology have further simplified the measurement of demand values in human participants. This dissertation project presents a programmatic series of studies designed to demonstrate the utility of using a behavioral economic demand framework and the purchase task methodology for understanding substance use disorder through basic and applied science research. Experiments are presented spanning a continuum from theoretical and methodological development to longitudinal work and clinical application. These experiments demonstrate three key conclusions regarding behavioral economic demand. First, behavioral economic demand provides a reliable and valid measure of drug valuation that is applicable to varied drug types and participant populations. Second, behavioral economic demand is a stimulus-selective measure specifically reflecting valuation for the commodity under study. Third, behavioral economic demand provides incremental information about substance use in the laboratory and clinical setting above and beyond traditional measures of reinforcer valuation and other behavioral economic variables. These findings collectively highlight the benefits of behavioral economic demand and provide an important platform for future work in addiction science. KEYWORDS: Behavioral Economics; Demand; Reinforcer; Substance Use Disorder Justin Charles Strickland January 18 2019 Date EXAMINING THE UTILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC DEMAND IN ADDICTION SCIENCE By Justin Charles Strickland William W. Stoops Director of Dissertation Mark T. Fillmore Director of Graduate Studies January 18 2019 Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the caring, attentive, and thoughtful support of my advisor, Dr. William Stoops. I would like to express my deepest appreciation for his contributions to my professional and personal growth from this mentorship. I would also like to thank other committee members on this dissertation as well as the many other individuals throughout graduate school that have provided keen insights into scientific interests and goals, including Drs. Joshua Lile, Craig Rush, Carrie Oser, Joshua Beckmann, Brady Reynolds, Michele Staton, David Fardo, Michael Wesley, Ryan Lacy, and Mark Smith. I would also like to thank past and current members of the Laboratory of Human Behavioral Pharmacology for support in data collection efforts. In particular, I would like to thank Drs. Levi Bolin and Katherine Marks for their support throughout graduate school as mentors, collaborators, and friends. Finally, I would like to thank Joanne, David, and Kevin Strickland and Jessica Annonio for their love and encouragement throughout this process. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation 1247392 [JCS], graduate research grants from the Psi Chi Honor Society [JCS], pilot research funds from the University of Kentucky Department of Behavioral Science and Center on Drug and Alcohol Research [JCS], and professional development funds from the University of Kentucky [WWS]. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................ ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................ x Chapter One: General Introduction Introduction............................................................................................................... 1 Behavioral Economics and Psychological Science.................................................... 4 Behavioral Economic Demand .................................................................................. 7 Mathematical Models of Demand .............................................................................. 8 Measures of Behavioral Economic Demand ........................................................... 10 Purchase Task Psychometrics ........................................................................... 14 Pharmacological, Individual Difference, and Environmental Effects on Demand ..... 16 Pharmacological Effects on Alcohol Demand ..................................................... 16 Pharmacological Effects on Cigarette and Nicotine Demand ............................. 17 Pharmacological Effects on Cocaine Demand ................................................... 18 Pharmacological Effects on Opioid Demand ...................................................... 19 Behavioral Economic Demand in Vulnerable Populations .................................. 20 Impulsivity and Demand .................................................................................... 20 Stress and Demand ........................................................................................... 21 Drug-Related Cues and Demand ....................................................................... 22 Environmental Influences: Contingencies and Concurrent Commodities ............ 23 Summary and Dissertation Aims ............................................................................. 24 Chapter Two: The Use of Crowdsourcing in Addiction Science Research: Amazon Mechanical Turk Introduction............................................................................................................. 30 The Historical Context of Crowdsourcing ................................................................ 31 Evaluating the Validity of mTurk Samples ............................................................... 34 Demographics and Survey-Taking Behavior of mTurk Participants .................... 34 Scale Psychometrics ......................................................................................... 37 Demonstration of Common Psychological Phenomena
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