scholarly journals The case of muddled units in temporal discounting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Thomas Vincent ◽  
Neil Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Hyperbolic Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Units Of Measurement ◽  
The Future ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Present Simulation

While parameters are crucial components of cognitive models, relatively little importance has been given to their units. We show that this has lead to some parameters to be contaminated, introducing an artifactual correlation between them. We also show that this has led to the illegal comparison of parameters with different units of measurement – this may invalidate parameter comparisons across partic- ipants, conditions, groups, or studies. We demonstrate that this problem affects two related models: Stevens’ Power Law and Rachlin’s delay discounting model. We show that it may even affect models which superficially avoid the incompatible units problem, such as hyperbolic discounting. We present simulation results to demonstrate the extent of the issues caused by the muddled units problem. We offer solutions in order to avoid the problem in the future or to aid in re-interpreting existing datasets.

An adaptive delay discounting procedure for the E-Prime programming environment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Norbury
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Hyperbolic Discounting ◽  
Programming Environment ◽  
Software Suite ◽  
Experimental Procedure ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Good Agreement

Background and objective: Delayed rewards are commonly perceived as less valuable than immediate rewards, a phenomenon referred to as either delay discounting or temporal discounting. Here, an adaptive discounting procedure developed for the E-Prime programming environment and an associated analysis script implemented in Excel are described. Methods: The experimental procedure was developed in E-Prime 2.0.10.242 and an associated analysis workbook in Excel 2013. Area under the curve (AUC) and hyperbolic discounting were used to measure delay discounting.Results: Example data from a sample (n= 19, mean age 21, 14 females) are presented. There was good agreement between AUC and log k values (hyperbolic) (AUC 100 and logK 100 was r(19) = -.889, p < .001, AUC 1000 and logK 1000, r(19) = -.906, p < .001 and AUC 10000 and logK 10000, r(19) = -.872, p < .001. At the individual level, the fit of the hyperbolic discounting function to the data was generally good (R2 values ranged between .88 and .97)Conclusions: An adaptive delay discounting procedure within the E-Prime programming environment and an associated analysis script (executed in Excel) are described. This implementation, freely available to the scientific community, may be suited to laboratories with limited programming resources or experience that intend to use this software suite for developing and implementing experimental paradigms.

scholarly journals Testing the factor structure underlying behavior using joint cognitive models: Impulsivity in delay discounting and Cambridge gambling tasks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Kvam ◽  
Ricardo J Romeu ◽  
Brandon Turner ◽  
Jasmin Vassileva ◽  
Jerome R Busemeyer
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Impulsive Behavior ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Latent Traits ◽  
Modeling Behavior

Neurocognitive tasks are frequently used to assess disordered decision making, and cognitive models of these tasks can quantify performance in terms related to decision makers' underlying cognitive processes. In many cases, multiple cognitive models purport to describe similar processes, but it is difficult to evaluate whether they measure the same latent traits or processes. In this paper, we develop methods for modeling behavior across multiple tasks by connecting cognitive model parameters to common latent constructs. This approach can be used to assess whether two tasks measure the same dimensions of cognition, or actually improve the estimates of cognitive models when there are overlapping cognitive processes between two related tasks. The approach is then applied to connecting decision data on two behavioral tasks that evaluate clinically-relevant deficits, the delay discounting task and Cambridge gambling task, to determine whether they both measure the same dimension of impulsivity. We find that the discounting rate parameters in the models of each task are not closely related, although substance users exhibit more impulsive behavior on both tasks. Instead, temporal discounting on the delay discounting task as quantified by the model is more closely related to externalizing psychopathology and impulsive choice, while temporal discounting on the Cambridge gambling task is related more to impulsive action and response inhibition failures. The methods we develop thus provide a new way to connect behavior across tasks and grant new insights onto the different dimensions of impulsivity and substance use.

Delay Discounting in Impulsive Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Moreira ◽  
Fernando Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cochrane Collaboration ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Impulsive Behavior ◽  
Manual Search ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Future

Abstract. Delay discounting (DD) is the process of devaluing results that happen in the future. With this review, we intend to identify specificities in the processes of DD in impulsive behavior. Studies were retrieved from multiple literature databases, through rigorous criteria (we included systematic reviews and empirical studies with adult human subjects), following the procedures of the Cochrane Collaboration initiative. Of the 174 documents obtained, 19 were considered eligible for inclusion and were retained for in-depth analysis. In addition, 13 studies from the manual search were included. Thus, a total of 32 studies were selected for review. The objectives/hypotheses, results, and the main conclusion(s) were extracted from each study. Results show that people with pronounced traits of impulsivity discount rewards more markedly, that is, they prefer immediate rewards, though of less value, or postponed losses, even though they worsen in the future. Taken together, the existing data suggest the importance of inserting DD as a tool for initial assessment in conjunction with measures of addiction and stress level, as well as the consideration of new therapies.

The Received Wisdom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Value Functions ◽  
Distant Future ◽  
Rational Planning ◽  
Future Discounting ◽  
The Future

This chapter introduces the reader to future discounting and some received wisdom. The received wisdom about rational planning tends to assume that it is irrational to have near‐biased preferences (i.e., preferences for lesser goods now compared to greater goods further in the future).Thechapter describes these preferences by introducing the reader to value functions. Value functions are then used to model different kinds of distant future temporal discounting (e.g., hyperbolic, exponential, absolute). Finally, the chapter makes a distinction between temporal discounting and risk discounting. It offers a reverse lottery test to tease apart these two kinds of discounting.

scholarly journals Research on the Human Dynamics in Mobile Communities Based on Social Identity

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Yan ◽  
Lianren Wu ◽  
Lanli Yi
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Mobile Internet ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Power Exponent ◽  
Human Dynamics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Simulation Results

Through analyzing the data about the releases, comment, and forwarding of 120,000 microblog messages in a year, this paper finds out that the intervals between information releases and comment follow a power law; besides, the analysis of data in each 24 hours reveals obvious differences between microblogging and website visit, email, instant communication, and the use of mobile phone, reflecting how people use fragments of time via mobile internet technology. The paper points out the significant influence of the user's activity on the intervals of information releases and thus demonstrates a positive correlation between the activity and the power exponent. The paper also points out that user's activity is influenced by social identity in a positive way. The simulation results based on the social identity mechanism fit well with the actual data, which indicates that this mechanism is a reasonable way to explain people's behavior in the mobile Internet.

The Ship Track Keeping With Roll Reduction Using a Multiple-States PD Controller on the Rudder Operation

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (01) ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
Ming-Chung Fang ◽  
Jhih-Hong Luo
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Pd Controller ◽  
Input Multiple Output ◽  
Maneuvering In Waves ◽  
Single Input ◽  
Reduction Function ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Guidance Technique ◽  
Present Simulation

The paper presents a nonlinear hydrodynamic numerical model with multiple-states proportional-derivative (PD) controllers for simulating the ship's tracking in random sea. By way of the rudder operation, the track-keeping ability of the PD controller on the ship is examined using the line-of-sight (LOS) guidance technique. Furthermore, the roll-reduction function using the rudder control is also included in the PD controller. From the present simulation results, the single-input multiple-output (SIMO) heading/roll PD controller including LOS technique developed here indeed works, either for the roll reduction or for track keeping while the ship is maneuvering in waves.

scholarly journals Cuing both positive and negative episodic foresight reduces delay discounting but does not affect risk-taking

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1998-2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Bulley ◽  
Beyon Miloyan ◽  
Gillian V Pepper ◽  
Matthew J Gullo ◽  
Julie D Henry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Balloon Analogue Risk Task ◽  
Episodic Simulation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Monetary Choice Questionnaire

Humans frequently create mental models of the future, allowing outcomes to be inferred in advance of their occurrence. Recent evidence suggests that imagining positive future events reduces delay discounting (the devaluation of reward with time until its receipt), while imagining negative future events may increase it. Here, using a sample of 297 participants, we experimentally assess the effects of cued episodic simulation of positive and negative future scenarios on decision-making in the context of both delay discounting (monetary choice questionnaire) and risk-taking (balloon-analogue risk task). Participants discounted the future less when cued to imagine positive and negative future scenarios than they did when cued to engage in control neutral imagery. There were no effects of experimental condition on risk-taking. Thus, although these results replicate previous findings suggesting episodic future simulation can reduce delay discounting, they indicate that this effect is not dependent on the valence of the thoughts, and does not generalise to all other forms of “impulsive” decision-making. We discuss various interpretations of these results, and suggest avenues for further research on the role of prospection in decision-making.

scholarly journals Temporal discounting in adolescents and adults with Tourette syndrome

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253620
Author(s):  
Canan Beate Schüller ◽  
Ben Jonathan Wagner ◽  
Thomas Schüller ◽  
Juan Carlos Baldermann ◽  
Daniel Huys ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tourette Syndrome ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Intertemporal Choice ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Hyperbolic Discounting ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Adult Patients ◽  
Control Functions ◽  
Male Subjects

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with hyperactivity in dopaminergic networks. Dopaminergic hyperactivity in the basal ganglia has previously been linked to increased sensitivity to positive reinforcement and increases in choice impulsivity. In this study, we examine whether this extends to changes in temporal discounting, where impulsivity is operationalized as an increased preference for smaller-but-sooner over larger-but-later rewards. We assessed intertemporal choice in two studies including nineteen adolescents (age: mean[sd] = 14.21[±2.37], 13 male subjects) and twenty-five adult patients (age: mean[sd] = 29.88 [±9.03]; 19 male subjects) with Tourette syndrome and healthy age- and education matched controls. Computational modeling using exponential and hyperbolic discounting models via hierarchical Bayesian parameter estimation revealed reduced temporal discounting in adolescent patients, and no evidence for differences in adult patients. Results are discussed with respect to neural models of temporal discounting, dopaminergic alterations in Tourette syndrome and the developmental trajectory of temporal discounting. Specifically, adolescents might show attenuated discounting due to improved inhibitory functions that also affect choice impulsivity and/or the developmental trajectory of executive control functions. Future studies would benefit from a longitudinal approach to further elucidate the developmental trajectory of these effects.

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