Paul Romanowich, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology

I joined Gonzaga University in 2019 and conduct research on choice and resource allocation through my choice behavior lab. My research has spanned quantitative modelling for pigeon’s behavior in an operant chamber to identifying and testing reinforcement...

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Paul Romanowich, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Education & Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., Psychology, University of California San Diego

M.A., Psychology, University of California San Diego

B.S., Psychology, University of Florida

B.A., German, University of Florida

Courses Taught

PSYC 101: General Psychology

PSYC 315: Learning

I joined Gonzaga University in 2019 and conduct research on choice and resource allocation through my choice behavior lab. My research has spanned quantitative modelling for pigeon’s behavior in an operant chamber to identifying and testing reinforcement contingencies that can best initiate and maintain smoking abstinence in pack-a-day smokers. More recently, I have investigated relationships between social discounting (i.e., sharing as a function of social distance) and different health behaviors, such as obesity, diabetes, condom use, texting while driving, and marijuana use. With the help of collaborators in Japan, I have also begun investigating the impact of cultural contingencies on choice behavior.

Last Five Years

  • Stegall, S. E., Collette, T., Kinjo, T., Takahashi, T., & Romanowich, P. (in press). Quantitative cross-cultural similarities and differences in social discounting for gains and losses. Frontiers in Public Health – Health Economics.
  • Igaki, T., Romanowich, P., & Yamagishi, N. (2019). Texting while walking is associated with delay, but not social discounting. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00348-3.
  • Igaki, T., Romanowich, P., & Sakagami, T. (2019). Experimental psychology: Current issues in irrational choice behavior. In T. Toshiji & H. Takizawa (Eds.) Diversity of experimental methods in economics (pp. 79-115). Singapore: Springer.
  • Wainwright, K., Green, B. E., & Romanowich, P. (2018). The relationship between delay, social discounting, and body mass index in university students. The Psychological Record, 68, 441-449.
  • Romanowich, P., & Igaki, T. (2017). Effects of reward magnitude, tobacco, and alcohol use on social discounting in Japan and United States college students. The Psychological Record, 67, 345-353.
  • Romanowich, P., Cozine, A., & Worthen, D. L. (2017). Effects of reinforcement context on initial link responding in concurrent chain reinforcement schedules. The Psychological Record, 67, 43-50.
  • Wainwright, K., & Romanowich, P. (2016). The relationship between perfectionism and discounting measures. Personality & Individual Differences, 101, 407-412.
  • Romanowich, P., & Lamb, R. J. (2015). The effects of fixed versus escalating incentives for smoking abstinence. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48, 25-37.
Dr. Romanowich’s research focuses on choice behavior and resource allocation for both humans and non-human organisms. This research is primarily designed and interpreted from a behavior analytic perspective. His research has spanned quantitative modelling for pigeon’s behavior in an operant chamber to identifying and testing reinforcement contingencies that can best initiate and maintain smoking abstinence in pack-a-day smokers. More recently, Dr. Romanowich has investigated relationships between social discounting (i.e., sharing as a function of social distance) and different health behaviors, such as obesity, diabetes, condom use, texting while driving, and marijuana use. Dr. Romanowich has also begun investigating the impact of cultural contingencies on choice behavior.