Test–retest reliability of a group-administered paper–pencil measure of delay discounting.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of an easily administered paper-pencil temporal discounting task modeled loosely on the hypothetical money choice task (Rachlin, Raineri, & Cross, 1991). Our group-administered task used 2 descriptions of discounting, the slope constant (k) of the hyperbolic function V = A/(1 + kD) and the area under the curve (AUC). The task was initially administered to 387 (163 men, 188 women, and 35 unspecified gender) introductory psychology students in groups ranging in size from 15 to 45. Six weeks later, 299 students (131 men and 168 women) repeated the task in groups ranging from 15 to 30. At each test time, the data from participants who met specified discounting criteria (about 85%) were fit well with the hyperbolic function (mean r(2) = .90). The test-retest correlation for logk was r = .64; for AUC scores, it was r = .70, with a correlation of r = -.96 between logk and AUC scores at Test 1. The (dislike for) Cognitive Complexity and Cognitive Instability subscales of the Barratt Impulsivity Scales, Version 11, administered only at the retest correlated with k values (r = .20, p = .001, and r = .179, p = .003), and women discounted more than men (p < .001) at both test times. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of the procedure and a detailed comparison of k and AUC measures of discounting.

Beyond the Shadow of a Trait: Understanding Discounting Through Item-Level Analysis of Personality Scales

“…The TD measure was an adaptation of Beck and Triplett's (2009) discounting procedure and consisted of seven fill-in-the-blank questions. 3 Each question was framed as "The most I would pay for $1,000 delayed by [delay] is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ."…”

Delay Discounting and Social Policy Issues

“…The shortest delays were longer than those used in many studies of delay discounting (e.g., Beck & Triplett, 2009;. However, several of the outcomes used in the present investigation involved changes in legislation, and legislative changes do not typically occur over the course of days or weeks, but rather months or years.…”

“…Our delay discounting task differed from that used by Beck and Triplett (2009) in several respects. Those researchers used small increments in amount between choices at the extremes and large increments around the midpoint of the scales.…”

“…Another technique is to add an exponent to the hyperbolic equation. There is an ongoing debate as to which technique is superior (Beck & Triplett, 2009;Killeen, 2009;Smith & Hantula, 2008). Our decision to use AuC (and Equation 1) as the dependent measure was somewhat independent of this debate.…”

“…The present study employed a multiple-choice delay discounting task similar to that employed by Beck and Triplett (2009). That is, participants were asked to indicate the percentage of the outcome they would accept immediately rather than waiting for the specified delay.…”