Quantitative analysis of behavior is the application of mathematical models--conceptualized from the robust corpus of environment-behavior-consequence interactions in published behavioral science--to the experimental analysis of behavior. The aim is to describe and/or predict relations between varying levels of independent environmental variables and dependent behavioral variables. The parameters in the models hopefully have theoretical meaning beyond their use in fitting models to data. The field was founded by

Richard Herrnstein Richard Julius Herrnstein (May 20, 1930 – September 13, 1994) was an American psychologist at Harvard University. He was an active researcher in animal learning in the Skinnerian tradition. Herrnstein was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psycho ...

(1961) when he introduced the

matching law In operant conditioning, the matching law is a quantitative relationship that holds between the relative rates of response and the relative rates of reinforcement in concurrent schedules of reinforcement. For example, if two response alternatives A ...

to quantify the behavior of organisms working on concurrent schedules of reinforcement. The field has integrated models from

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

(including voter behavior) and psychology, especially

mathematical psychology Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychology, psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, thought, Cognition, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifi ...

of which it is a branch. The field is represented by the

Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior The Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior was founded in 1978 by Michael Commons, Michael Lamport Commons and John Anthony Nevin. The first president was Richard Herrnstein, Richard J. Herrnstein. In the beginning it was called the Harv ...

. Quantitative analysis of behavior addresses the following topics among others:

behavioral economics Behavioral economics is the study of the psychological (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, affective, social) factors involved in the decisions of individuals or institutions, and how these decisions deviate from those implied by traditional economi ...

, behavioral momentum,

connectionist Connectionism is an approach to the study of human mental processes and cognition that utilizes mathematical models known as connectionist networks or artificial neural networks. Connectionism has had many "waves" since its beginnings. The first ...

systems or

neural networks A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either Cell (biology), biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a netwo ...

, integration,

hyperbolic discounting In economics, hyperbolic discounting is a time inconsistency, time-''inconsistent'' model of delay discounting. It is one of the cornerstones of behavioral economics and its brain-basis is actively being studied by neuroeconomics researchers. Acc ...

including the delay reduction hypothesis,

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

errorless learning Errorless learning was an instructional design introduced by psychologist Charles Ferster in the 1950s as part of his studies on what would make the most effective learning environment. B. F. Skinner was also influential in developing the techni ...

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, non-human animals, and ...

, and the Rescorla-Wagner model, matching law, melioration,

scalar expectancy The scalar timing or scalar expectancy theory (SET) is a model of the processes that govern behavior controlled by time. The model posits an internal clock, and particular memory and decision processes. SET is one of the most important models of an ...

, signal detection, neural hysteresis, and reinforcement control.

Concepts and models

Matching law In operant conditioning, the matching law is a quantitative relationship that holds between the relative rates of response and the relative rates of reinforcement in concurrent schedules of reinforcement. For example, if two response alternatives A ...

* Rate of response * Rate of reinforcement * Mathematical principles of reinforcement * Behavioral momentum * Quantitative psychology

References

* Herrnstein, R. J. (1961). Relative and absolute strength of response as a function of frequency of reinforcement. ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior'', ''4'', 267-272. * Herrnstein, R. J. (1970). On the law of effect. ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 13'': 243-266.

Influential people in quantitative analysis of behavior

* John Anderson *

Michael Commons Michael Lamport Commons (born 1939) is a theoretical behavioral scientist and a complex systems scientist. He developed the model of hierarchical complexity. Life and work Michael Lamport Commons was born in 1939 in Los Angeles and grew up in ...

* Robyn Dawes * William Estes * John Gibbon *

* Peter Richard Killeen * R. Duncan Luce * John Anthony Nevin *

Allen Newell Allen Newell (March 19, 1927 – July 19, 1992) was an American researcher in computer science and cognitive psychology at the RAND Corporation and at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, Tepper School of Business, and D ...

* Howard Rachlin * Herbert A. Simon * J. E. R. Staddon {{DEFAULTSORT:Quantitative Analysis Of Behavior Experimental psychology