Dr. Natalie Buddiga

Areas of Expertise

• Prosocial behavior, behavioral economics, discounting methodology

Education

• B.A. in psychology: applied behavior analysis, Binghamton University (2016)
• M.A. in psychology: behavior analysis, University of Nevada Reno (2020)
• Ph.D. in psychology: behavior analysis, University of Nevada Reno (2023)

View My CV

What's My Why?

Humans often engage in choices that are labeled as "irrational," such as drug use and gambling. Altruism has been considered an "irrational" choice because it characterizes a preference for benefits to others over benefits to oneself. While altruism seems irrational, when you understand an organism’s learning history, no choice is irrational. My research seeks to describe, predict and influence altruism through quantitative modeling. Specifically, I use behavioral economic methods to investigate the conditions under which altruism and other prosocial choices occur. Through this work, I hope to enhance our scientific understanding of altruism and provide practical methods through which altruism can be increased at a societal level.

Selected Publications

Buddiga, Natalie R., and Matthew L. Locey. "Altruism, reciprocity, and probability: Examining relations through a discounting framework." Behavioural Processes 217 (2024): 105024.

Locey, Matthew L., et al. "Commodity discounting: Obstacles and solutions." Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 37.1 (2023): 25.

Buddiga, Natalie R., and Matthew L. Locey. "Reciprocal discounting: A pilot study." The Psychological Record 72.3 (2022): 505-509.

Buddiga, Natalie R., and Matthew L. Locey. "Social discounting towards Relatives and Nonrelatives." The Psychological Record (2022): 1-9.

Locey, Matthew L., and Natalie R. Buddiga. "A reinforcement account of altruism." The Psychological Record 72.3 (2022): 517-524.