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This review critically examines neurobehavioral theoretical developments in decision making in addiction in the 21st century. We specifically compare each theory reviewed to seven benchmarks of theoretical robustness, based on their ability to address: why some commodities are addictive; developmental trends in addiction; addiction-related anhedonia; self-defeating patterns of behavior in addiction; why addiction co-occurs with other unhealthy behaviors; and, finally, means for the repair of addiction. We have included only self-contained theories or hypotheses which have been developed or extended in the 21st century to address decision making in addiction. We thus review seven distinct theories of decision making in addiction: learning theories, incentive-sensitization theory, dopamine imbalance and systems models, opponent process theory, strength models of self-control failure, the competing neurobehavioral decision systems theory, and the triadic systems theory of addiction. Finally, we have directly compared the performance of each of these theories based on the aforementioned benchmarks, and highlighted key points at which several theories have coalesced.

The present study found that e-liquid substitutability increased with nicotine strength, at least up to 24 mg/mL e-liquid. However, the effects of e-liquid nicotine strength on cigarette purchasing were marginal and total nicotine purchased increased as e-liquid nicotine strength increased.

The evolution of science derives, in part, from the development and use of new methods and techniques. Here, we discuss one development that may have impact on the understanding of tobacco regulatory science: namely, the application of behavioral economics to the complex tobacco marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to review studies that examine conditions impacting the degree to which electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products substitute for conventional cigarettes in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM). Collectively, the following factors constitute the current experimental understanding of conditions that will affect ENDS use and substitution for conventional cigarettes: increasing the base price of conventional cigarettes, increasing taxation of conventional cigarettes, subsidizing the price of ENDS products, increasing ENDS nicotine strength, and providing narratives that illustrate the potential health benefits of ENDS consumption in lieu of conventional cigarettes. Each of these factors are likely moderated by consumer characteristics, which include prior ENDS use, ENDS use risk perception, and gender. Overall, the ETM provides a unique method to explore and identify the conditions by which various nicotine products may interact with one another that mimics the real world. In addition, the ETM permits the efficacy of a broad range of potential nicotine policies and regulations to be measured prior to governmental implementation.

Introduction The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) approximates real-world situations by estimating the effects of several, concurrently available products and policies on budgeted purchasing. Although the effects of increasing cigarette price on potentially less harmful substitutability are well documented, the effects of other, nuanced pricing policies remain speculative. This study used the ETM as a tool to assess the effects of two pricing policies, conventional cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization, on demand and substitutability. Methods During sampling periods, participants were provided 2-day samples of 24 mg/mL e-liquid, after which ETM purchase sessions occurred. Across two ETM sessions, conventional cigarettes were taxed or e-liquid was subsidized in combination with increasing cigarette price. The other four available products were always price constant and not taxed or subsidized. Results E-liquid functioned as a substitute for conventional cigarettes across all conditions. Increasing cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization increased the number of participants for which e-liquid functioned as a substitute. Cigarette taxation decreased cigarette demand, by decreasing demand intensity, and marginally increased the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect the functions’ slopes (substitutability). E-liquid subsidization resulted in large increases in the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect e-liquid substitutability nor cigarette demand. Implications 24 mg/mL e-cigarette e-liquid was the only product to significantly substitute for cigarettes in at least one condition throughout the experiment; it functioned as a significant substitute throughout all four tax and all four subsidy conditions. Increasing cigarette taxes decreased cigarette demand through decreases in demand intensity but did not affect e-cigarette substitution. Increasing e-liquid subsidies increased e-liquid initial intensity of substitution but did not affect cigarette demand. Conclusions This study extended research on the behavioral economics of conventional cigarette demand and e-liquid substitutability in a complex marketplace. The results suggest that the most efficacious method to decrease conventional cigarette purchasing and increase e-liquid purchasing may involve greatly increasing cigarette taxes while also increasing the value of e-liquid through potentially less harmful product subsidization or differential taxation.

A growing number of studies have shown that interteaching produces better student-learning outcomes than more traditional teaching methods such as lecture. But to date, no studies have directly examined whether interteaching is differentially effective for students who typically earn either good or bad grades in their courses. In this study, we alternated between interteaching and lecture several times during the semester and measured the exam performance of students with low, moderate, and high grade point averages. We found that interteaching improved the exam scores for students in each of these groups but that the improvement was most noticeable for students with low and moderate GPAs. Thus, interteaching may be especially useful for students who typically earn lower grades in their courses.

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A growing body of research has shown that taking tests can result in enhanced learning, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the addition of postdiscussion quizzes to interteaching, a new behavioranalytic teaching method, produced a similar effect. Students in two sections of an undergraduate psychology of learning course participated in interteaching sessions and took postdiscussion quizzes prior to some of their exams. The authors found that students who took the quizzes had exam scores that were not significantly different from the exam scores of students who did not take the quizzes. These results provide additional evidence that including postdiscussion quizzes in interteaching may not produce a testing effect. This may be because interteaching already contains components that enhance student learning.