The Effect of Financial Scarcity on Reinforcer Pathology: A Dyadic Developmental Examination.

This study investigated the effects of experimentally manipulated scarcity on the reinforcing value of food (RRVfood) and delay discounting (DD), which, together, create reinforcer pathology (RP) among parents and offspring. A stratified sample of 106 families (53 parent/child aged 7−10 dyads & 53 parent/adolescent aged 15−17 dyads) from high- and low-income households visited our laboratory for three appointments. Each appointment included an experimental manipulation of financial gains and losses and DD and RRV tasks.