SABA Experimental Fellowship Recipients
2011: Luís Oliveira (Washington University in St. Louis)
After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology (with an emphasis on industrial psychology) at the University of Minho, in Portugal, Luís Oliveira became interested in the experimental analysis of behavior. He went on to receive a master's degree at Minho under the supervision of Dr. Armando Machado. During this period, his research focused on experimental tests that distinguished between two major models of timing, SET and LeT, using a double bisection task with pigeons.
Luís then entered the doctoral program at Washington University in St. Louis in 2008 under the supervision of Dr. Leonard Green in order to pursue research on choice behavior and decision-making. He has been investigating interspecies similarities and differences in impulsivity and self-control using delay and probability discounting procedures. One recent experiment has successfully obtained probability discounting functions in pigeons with a procedure in which the pigeon experiences each of the programmed probabilities in a one-shot (as opposed to repeated gambles) fashion. His next study will shed light on whether pigeons show a magnitude effect and the Allais Paradox, both of which have been frequently observed in human studies of decision under risk.
In the human discounting literature, the choice alternatives typically involve monetary rewards (real or hypothetical), whereas with nonhuman animals, the choice alternatives are directly consumable outcomes (food, liquids, or drugs). Luís currently is evaluating delay discounting with pigeons in which the outcomes are more like those used with humans, namely conditioned reinforcers (tokens). Other research projects include an investigation of the relation between food deprivation and degree of discounting in pigeons and the evaluation of the parameters of the hyperboloid discounting function when monetary amounts vary over a wide range, under situations involving gains and losses.
In 2009, Luís was awarded a prestigious doctoral fellowship from the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal). The recognition of his efforts by SABA through its awarding him the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Fellowship will further motivate Luís to pursue his research interests and thereby contribute to the continuing development and the enhancement of behavior analysis.
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