Behavioral construction of the future.
George Ainslie
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine Howard Rachlin's hypothetical model of molar choice as a tactic for resisting addictions and to explore how some of its then-radical components can be developed to account for nonphysical and far future rewards. METHOD: The history of Rachlin's long dialog with the present author about molar choice is reviewed. The possible implications are described of both authors' proposal that behavior can depend entirely on reward. RESULTS: ). Such uniqueness can be provided by personal disciplines for testing reality, but also by extraneous factors such as needs, coincidences, and biases. CONCLUSIONS: Rachlin's teleological behaviorism is a valuable hypothesis, but limited by its ruling out of nonexternal rewards and of intrapersonal self-prediction, both of them useful for understanding nonsubstance addictions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).