Current Research Interests
Cross-Species Analysis of Adaptive Choice
My current research focuses on choice and
decision-making in humans and other animals. Of particular interest are
choices with contrasting short-term and longer-term consequences, such as those
studied under the rubric of "self-control" in psychology, of optimal
foraging theory in behavioral ecology, and of maximization theory in
economics. The aim of my current NSF grant is to develop a method by
which adaptive choice in humans and other animals can be systematically
compared. This work grows out of some earlier research in my laboratory,
which showed that modifying the procedures used with pigeons in ways that more
closely approximate those used with humans brings performance of the two
species into close accord. By studying human and nonhuman behavior under
closely analogous experimental conditions, we are in a position to distinguish
genuine species differences in psychological process from differences in
procedure. This will provide important information on the continuity of
choice patterns across species, and on the degree to which principles
discovered in the animal laboratory can be extended to fairly complex human
activity.
Some representative papers along these
lines:
Branch, M. N., & Hackenberg, T. D.
(1998). Humans are animals, too: Connecting animal research to
human behavior and cognition. In W. O' Donohue (Ed.), Learning and
behavior therapy (pp. 15-35). Boston: Allyn-Bacon.
Pietras, C. J., &
Hackenberg, T. D. (2003). Human
risky choice across four probability distributions. The Psychological Record, 53, 443-457.
Hackenberg, T. D. (2005). Of pigeons and people: Some observations on species
differences in choice and self-control.
Brazilian Journal of Behavior Analysis, 1, 135-147.
Verbal-Nonverbal Relations
A related line of research with humans emphasizes
relations between verbal and nonverbal behavior (i.e., between saying and
doing) and the extent to which verbal instructions modulate sensitivity to
long-term outcomes. Previous work in my laboratory has shown that humans'
choices are generally well described by optimization models--models inspired by
optimal foraging theory in behavioral ecology--but that task-related
verbalizations interact with task demands, often resulting in significant
departures from optimal behavior. Ongoing work in my lab seeks to better
understand the causal interplay between verbal and nonverbal influences, and
the degree to which human verbal and symbolic functioning contributes to
species differences in adaptive choice and decision making.
Some representative papers along these
lines:
Hackenberg, T. D. (1998). Laboratory
methods in human behavioral ecology. In K. A. Lattal & M. Perone (Eds.),
Handbook of research methods in human operant behavior (pp. 541-577). New
York: Plenum.
Historical and Conceptual Foundations
In addition to these empirical pursuits, I
also have a longstanding interest in the history and conceptual foundations of
behavior analysis. Of particular interest are (a) the relations between
prediction, control, and explanation, and (b) cross-relations between behavior
analysis and other intellectual viewpoints, both inside and outside psychology.
Some representative papers along these
lines:
Hackenberg, T. D. (1988). Operationism,
mechanism, and psychological reality: The second-coming of linguistic
relativity. The Psychological Record, 38, 187-201.
Hackenberg, T. D. (1993). Commonsense
and conventional wisdom. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of
Behavior, 60, 457-460.
Hackenberg, T. D. (1995). Jacques Loeb,
B. F. Skinner, and the legacy of prediction and control. The Behavior
Analyst, 18, 225-236.
Hackenberg, T. D. (1998). Putting
Skinner in context [A review of Smith and WoodwardÕs B. F. Skinner and
Behaviorism in American Culture]. Contemporary Psychology, 43, 503-505.
Hackenberg, T. D. (2000). Jacques
Loeb. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology. New York:
Oxford University Press.