The Interplay between Operant Behavioral Economics and Cognitive Accounts of Behavior Available to Purchase

In this article, I discuss the interplay between operant behavioral economics and the cognitive account of behavioral economics, and what common basis or obstacles there may be between them. To understand the basis of the two schools, the first part of this article describes behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, and behavior analysis, before the two schools of operant behavioral economics and the cognitive account of behavioral economics, are described and compared. Specific attention is given to a few examples of experimental approaches to the same phenomena, and to the different schools’ view towards motivation. I argue that, although there is one major obstacle, namely the diverging views of explanatory power, there are areas allowing for interplay: (1) Investigation of similar phenomena, (2) The common interest in experiments, and (3) a common focus on context.