Abstract

BURITICA, JONATHAN  and  VALERIO DOS SANTOS, CRISTIANO. Value of the Reward: How Is the Concept Used and for What?. Rev. colomb. psicol. [online]. 2016, vol.25, n.2, pp.233-250. ISSN 0121-5469.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v25n2.50405.

The article offers a general panorama on the value of the reward, answering the questions: What is it? How has it been conceptualized? What investigations have used the concept? In general, a reward is rated as more or less effective: the greater the value, the greater its efficiency. First, the article discusses the historical measurement of value and how the literature on behavioral economics defines it. Next, two different uses of the concept are presented: (a) as a hypothetical construct and (b) as intervening variable. The text includes operational definitions where the associated variables are not defined exhaustively and therefore not considered as intervening variable, but which also add no meaning beyond the level of observation and therefore are not an example of a hypothetical construct. The article then explores the relationship between delay of the reinforcing agent and temporal discount. Finally, the article considers the discussion about the concept's heuristic value in contemporary research.

Keywords : Delayed reward; reward magnitude; reward devaluation; law of equalization; demand elasticity; reward value.

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