Establishing Operations

The application of behavioural theory is regularly used in consumer settings such as bars and restaurants.

 

For example, publicans cannot control the behaviour of their customer’s drinking rate, however they can introduce items like free salty snacks to make drinking alcohol more reinforcing (Vargas, 2009).

 

An establishing operation is a procedure that increases the effectiveness of an objects reinforcement, and the most commonly used establishing operation in behavioural science is a deprivation of primary reinforcement (Pierce & Cheney, 2013).

 

Although bar owners cannot force the consumer to drink more, they make use of value-altering establishing operations (the salty foods) to make drinking liquids more reinforcing.

So drink up you lab rats...there's no manipulation to see here!  

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Well now, I was in a bar in Dublin, and it had one of those coasters. And it said, "Drink Canada Dry," so I thought I'd give it a shot. ~ Brendan Behan; on why he visited Canada.