Dr. Todd McKerchar

Professor
 111-A Ayers Hall 
256-782-5416
tmckerchar@jsu.edu

Todd McKerchar

Courses Taught

  • Behavior Analysis Lab (PSY 221)
  • Conditioning & Learning (PSY 444)
  • Professional Behavior (PSY 505)
  • Conceptual Foundations of Behavior Analysis (PSY 511)

Academic/Research Interests

  • Hyperbolic discounting
  • Consumer choice

Education

  • B.S., University of Florida, Psychology, 1998
  • M.A., University of Kansas, Human Development, 2002
  • Ph.D., University of Kansas, Behavioral Psychology, 2006
  • NIDA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Vermont, 2006–2007
  • Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral (BACB, Inc.), 2007-present

Specialty Areas

  • Experimental Analysis of Behavior
  • Behavioral Economics

Service and Professional Commitments

  • Board of Editors (2010–present), The Psychological Record
  • Board of Editors (2016–2019), Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
  • Tutorial Coordinator (2016–present), Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior
  • Elections/Nominations Chair (2016–present), American Psychological Association (Division 25)
  • Member-at-Large (2016–2019), American Psychological Association (Division 25)

Publications and Presentations

Peer-Reviewed Publications (since 2009)

  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (in press). Consumer choices with variations in item price, delay, and opportunity cost. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.806
  • Harman, M., Kodak, T., & McKerchar, T. L. (2020). Effects of reward magnitude frames on measures of delay discounting in a hypothetical money scenario. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 114, 193-202. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.620
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (2019). Tests of an indifference rule in variable-delay and double-reward choice procedures with humans. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 111, 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.521
  • Franck, C. T., Koffarnus, M. N., McKerchar, T. L., & Bickel, W. K. (2019). An overview of Bayesian reasoning in the analysis of delay-discounting data. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 111, 239–251. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.504
  • McKerchar, T. L., Kaplan, B. A, Reed, D. D., Suggs, S. S., & Franck, C. T. (2019). Discounting environmental outcomes: Temporal and probabilistic air-quality gains and losses. Behavior Analysis: Research & Practice, 19, 273–280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bar0000138
  • Kaplan, B. A., Amlung, M., Reed, D. D. Jarmalowicz, D. P., McKerchar, T. L., & Lemley. S. M. (2016). Automating scoring of delay discounting for the 21- and 27-item monetary choice questionnaires. The Behavior Analyst, 39, 293–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-016-0070-9
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (2016). Human choices between variable and fixed rewards in hypothetical variable-delay and double-reward discounting procedures. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 106, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.214
  • Kaplan, B. A., Reed, D. D., & McKerchar, T. L. (2014). Using a visual analogue scale to assess delay, social, and probability discounting of an environmental loss. The Psychological Record, 64, 261–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0041-z
  • McKerchar, T. L., Pickford, S., & Robertson, S. R. (2013). Hyperboloid discounting of delayed outcomes: Magnitude effects and the gain-loss asymmetry. The Psychological Record, 63, 441–451. https://doi.org/10.11133/j.tpr.2013.63.3.003
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Renda, C. R. (2012). Delay and probability discounting in humans: An overview. The Psychological Record, 62, 817–834.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395837
  • McKerchar, T. L., Morris, E. K., & Smith, N. G. (2011). A quantitative analysis and natural history of B. F. Skinner’s coauthoring practices. The Behavior Analyst, 34, 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392236
  • Washio, Y., Higgins, S. T., Heil, S. H., McKerchar, T .L., Badger, G. J., Skelly, J. M., & Dantona, R. L. (2011). Delay discounting as a predictor of treatment response among cocaine-dependent outpatients. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 19, 243–248. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023617
  • McKerchar, T. L., Green, L., & Myerson, J. (2010). On the scaling interpretation of exponents in hyperboloid models of delay and probability discounting. Behavioural Processes, 84, 440–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2010.01.003
  • McKerchar, T. L., Green, L., Myerson, J, Pickford, T. S., Hill, J. C., & Stout, S. C. (2009). A comparison of four models of delay discounting in humans. Behavioural Processes, 81, 256–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2008.12.017

Recent Conference Presentations

  • Cleveland, J. D., & McKerchar, T. L. (May 2021). Bayesian updating and credible intervals: An application to delay discounting. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (May 2021). Consumer choices with variations in item price, delay, and opportunity cost. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (May 2019). Tests of an indifference rule in variable-delay and double-reward choice procedures with humans. Invited presentation given at the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Chicago, IL.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (April 2018). Discounting by humans in variable-delay and double-reward choice procedures. Invited presentation given at the Four Corners Association for Behavior Analysis, Park City, UT.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (November 2017). How humans make choices between variable and fixed delays and one and two rewards. Invited presentation given at the Midwest Association for Behavior Analysis, Milwaukee, WIS.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (February 2017). Do humans, like nonhumans, prefer variable over fixed rewards? Invited presentation given at the California Association for Behavior Analysis, Anaheim, CA.
  • McKerchar, T. L. (February 2017). What is a K value? A workshop on delay discounting. Workshop given at the California Association for Behavior Analysis, Anaheim, CA.
  • McKerchar, T. L., & Mazur, J. E. (February 2016). Human choices between variable and fixed rewards in hypothetical discounting procedures. Invited presentation given at the Winter Conference on Animal Learning and Behavior, Winter Park, CO.
  • McKerchar, T. L., Mazur, J. E., Marshall, T. K., Cumming, J. F., & McDougale, C. B. (May 2015). A test of the economic concept of fungibility: Temporal discounting of money and gift certificates. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, San Antonio, TX.
  • McKerchar, T. L. (April 2015). Choice and behavioral decision making: Discounting phenomena. Invited keynote given at the annual meeting of the Behavioral Sciences Conference of the North, University of Alaska, Anchorage.