Integrated versus segregated accounting and the magnitude effect in temporal discounting

Grace, Randolph C.; McLean, Anthony P.

doi:10.3758/bf03196765

Cited by 33 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Hypothetical TD tasks with monetary rewards are most commonly used in studies with humans (see Ref for a review). In these tasks, participants make a series of choices between fictional amounts of money, one smaller amount being available immediately and a larger amount available after some specified delay interval.…”

Section: Measuring Temporal Reward Discountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neural correlates of temporal reward discounting

Scheres

Water

Mies

2013

WIRES Cognitive Science

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Temporal reward discounting (TD) refers to the decrease in subjective value of a reward when the delay to that reward increases. In recent years, a growing number of studies on the neural correlates of temporal reward discounting have been conducted. This article focuses on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on TD in humans. First, we describe the different types of tasks (also from behavioral studies) and the dependent variables. Subsequently, we discuss the evidence for three neurobiological models of TD: the dual-systems model, the single-system model and the self-control model. Further, studies in which nontraditional tasks (e.g., with nonmonetary rewards) were used to study TD are reviewed. Finally, we discuss the neural correlates of individual differences in discounting, and its development across the lifespan. We conclude that the evidence for each of the three neurobiological models of TD is mixed, in that all models receive (partial) support, and several studies provide support for multiple models. Because of large differences between studies in task design and analytical approach, it is difficult to draw a firm conclusion regarding which model provides the best explanation of the neural correlates of temporal discounting. We propose that some components of these models can complement each other, and future studies should test the predictions offered by different models against each other. Several future research directions are suggested, including studying the connectivity between brain regions in relation to discounting, and directly comparing the neural mechanisms involved in discounting of monetary and primary rewards. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:523-545. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1246 CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

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Section: Measuring Temporal Reward Discountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neural correlates of temporal reward discounting

Scheres

Water

Mies

2013

WIRES Cognitive Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The fact that the same equation provides a good description of both human and nonhuman delay discounting data suggests that decision‐making processes are relatively preserved across species, whereas the apparent absence of a magnitude effect in nonhumans highlights what might be an important difference. For example, delay discounting in humans may involve aspects of language, as indicated by framing effects (Kahneman & Tversky, 1984), that may interact with the way in which rewards are devalued with delay (Grace & McLean, 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

Delay Discounting of Qualitatively Different Reinforcers in Rats

Calvert

Green

Myerson

2010

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Humans discount larger delayed rewards less steeply than smaller rewards, whereas no such magnitude effect has been observed in rats (and pigeons). It remains possible that rats' discounting is sensitive to differences in the quality of the delayed reinforcer even though it is not sensitive to amount. To evaluate this possibility, Experiment 1 examined discounting of qualitatively different food reinforcers: highly preferred versus nonpreferred food pellets. Similarly, Experiment 2 examined discounting of highly preferred versus nonpreferred liquid reinforcers. In both experiments, an adjusting-amount procedure was used to determine the amount of immediate reinforcer that was judged to be of equal subjective value to the delayed reinforcer. The amount and quality of the delayed reinforcer were varied across conditions. Discounting was well described by a hyperbolic function, but no systematic effects of the quantity or the quality of the delayed reinforcer were observed.

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“…It is worth emphasizing that, in accordance with our interest in prediction over explanation, our findings in favour of the difference model are at most weak evidence that the difference model is how people actually make intertemporal decisions. Grace and McLean () provide an example of evidence against the difference model as an explanation. Grace and McLean showed that presenting the LL reward as an increase over the SS reward (or vice versa) rather than as an absolute amount influenced subjects' choices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The predictive accuracy of intertemporal‐choice models

Arfer

Luhmann

2015

Brit J Math & Statis

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How do people choose between a smaller reward available sooner and a larger reward available later? Past research has evaluated models of intertemporal choice by measuring goodness of fit or identifying which decision-making anomalies they can accommodate. An alternative criterion for model quality, which is partly antithetical to these standard criteria, is predictive accuracy. We used cross-validation to examine how well 10 models of intertemporal choice could predict behaviour in a 100-trial binary-decision task. Many models achieved the apparent ceiling of 85% accuracy, even with smaller training sets. When noise was added to the training set, however, a simple logistic-regression model we call the difference model performed particularly well. In many situations, between-model differences in predictive accuracy may be small, contrary to long-standing controversy over the modelling question in research on intertemporal choice, but the simplicity and robustness of the difference model recommend it to future use.

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Integrated versus segregated accounting and the magnitude effect in temporal discounting

Cited by 33 publications

References 21 publications

The neural correlates of temporal reward discounting

The neural correlates of temporal reward discounting

Delay Discounting of Qualitatively Different Reinforcers in Rats

The predictive accuracy of intertemporal‐choice models

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