Incentive Relativity (Problems in the Behavioural Sciences)

"The strength of Flaherty's book lies in its very thorough and clear review of the literature on the different varieties of contrast. ...it provides valuable background for researchers intrigued by the puzzles of contrast and by the questin of how to compute relative value temporally distant events." K. Geoffrey White, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Disappointment and recovery occur frequently in life; as does irritation regarding ones financial or economic state compared to others. Incentive relativity is the study of this phenomenon, and this book provides a full account of the subject. The book shows that animals also respond on the basis of the relative value of rewards and that these relativity effects are stressful, but that they may also be adaptive. The book demonstrates that animal research may lead to an understanding of individual differences in discernment and susceptibility to disappointment, and to their adaptive advantages, or disadvantages.