A research technique for measuring a subject’s dependence on or addiction to an artifact, substance, behavior, person, relationship, group, institution, belief, expectation, goal, hope, dream, or fantasy. (1) A quantity of the object large enough to stimulate pleasure but small enough to stimulate a desire for more is administered; (2) this quantity of the object is displayed as an enticement to hunt for more; (3) the object is withdrawn and the persistence of the subject’s hunting behavior in its absence is measured. The classic Behaviorist experiment using this technique is B. F. Skinner’s “superstitious pigeon.” Here it is schematized as a continuously recycling two-person minuet.

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