The Impact of Experiencing Outcomes on Delay and Probability Discounting

<p>Temporal and probability discounting refer to the decrease in subjective value of rewards that are either delayed or uncertain. Comparatively high degrees of discounting have been linked to other indices of impulsivity in both animals and humans, but the study of human discounting has primarily relied on participant reports of preferences between hypothetical outcomes. A number studies to date have illustrated not only how sensitive these preferences are to manipulations within such hypothetical procedures, but also that tasks where each consequence is actually experienced are able to capture changes in behaviour that hypothetical tasks may not. The current thesis examined temporal and probability discounting using a novel experiential discounting task in the form of a computer game-based discounting task in which the delays or probabilities of the preferred outcomes were experienced following each choice. The game had participants collect points by skiing over jumps, and discounting choices between either immediate and delayed or certain and uncertain point outcomes provided additional opportunities for point gain. Discounting was examined across four samples primarily composed of university students. Experiment 1, a test of the newly created task in two parts, assessed the most appropriate descriptive model of both temporal and probability discounting, as well as examined the relation between the two, hypothetical discounting and self-report measures of impulsivity and risk taking. Experiment 2 examined the effect of magnitude manipulations on both temporal and probability discounting. Experiment 3 examined the effect on degree of temporal discounting of manipulations to post-reward delays and access to alternative reinforcement during this period. Lastly, Experiment 4 attempted to manipulate the association between delay and risk and examined the impact of this on discounting of delayed outcomes. Participants across all studies showed systematic decreases in subjective value of both delayed and uncertain point outcomes. However, the shape of this decrease in value differed across the two types of outcomes, as did the effect of the magnitude manipulations. Furthermore, neither post-reinforcement duration, access to alternative reinforcement, nor experience with risk influenced degree of temporal discounting. The results are discussed in terms of single process accounts of discounting, the implications for individual trait interpretations of discounting and the relevance of experiential and hypothetical discounting to the construct of impulsivity.</p>

The Impact of Experiencing Outcomes on Delay and Probability Discounting

<p>Temporal and probability discounting refer to the decrease in subjective value of rewards that are either delayed or uncertain. Comparatively high degrees of discounting have been linked to other indices of impulsivity in both animals and humans, but the study of human discounting has primarily relied on participant reports of preferences between hypothetical outcomes. A number studies to date have illustrated not only how sensitive these preferences are to manipulations within such hypothetical procedures, but also that tasks where each consequence is actually experienced are able to capture changes in behaviour that hypothetical tasks may not. The current thesis examined temporal and probability discounting using a novel experiential discounting task in the form of a computer game-based discounting task in which the delays or probabilities of the preferred outcomes were experienced following each choice. The game had participants collect points by skiing over jumps, and discounting choices between either immediate and delayed or certain and uncertain point outcomes provided additional opportunities for point gain. Discounting was examined across four samples primarily composed of university students. Experiment 1, a test of the newly created task in two parts, assessed the most appropriate descriptive model of both temporal and probability discounting, as well as examined the relation between the two, hypothetical discounting and self-report measures of impulsivity and risk taking. Experiment 2 examined the effect of magnitude manipulations on both temporal and probability discounting. Experiment 3 examined the effect on degree of temporal discounting of manipulations to post-reward delays and access to alternative reinforcement during this period. Lastly, Experiment 4 attempted to manipulate the association between delay and risk and examined the impact of this on discounting of delayed outcomes. Participants across all studies showed systematic decreases in subjective value of both delayed and uncertain point outcomes. However, the shape of this decrease in value differed across the two types of outcomes, as did the effect of the magnitude manipulations. Furthermore, neither post-reinforcement duration, access to alternative reinforcement, nor experience with risk influenced degree of temporal discounting. The results are discussed in terms of single process accounts of discounting, the implications for individual trait interpretations of discounting and the relevance of experiential and hypothetical discounting to the construct of impulsivity.</p>

Dorsal striatum coding for the timely execution of action sequences

The automatic initiation of actions can be highly functional. But occasionally these actions cannot be withheld and are released at inappropriate times, impulsively. Striatal activity has been shown to participate in the timing of action sequence initiation and it has been linked to impulsivity. Using a self-initiated task, we trained adult rats to withhold a rewarded action sequence until a waiting time interval has elapsed. By analyzing neuronal activity we show that the striatal response preceding the initiation of the learned sequence is strongly modulated by the time subjects wait before eliciting the sequence. Interestingly, the modulation is steeper in adolescent rats, which show a strong prevalence of impulsive responses compared to adults. We hypothesize this anticipatory striatal activity reflects the animals' subjective reward expectation, based on the elapsed waiting time, while its steeper waiting modulation in adolescence reflects age-related differences in temporal discounting, internal urgency states or explore-exploit balance.

“I Feel Therefore I Decide”: Effect of Negative Emotions on Temporal Discounting and Probability Discounting

Temporal and probability discounting are considered two fundamental constructs in economic science, as they are associated with phenomena with major societal impact and a variety of sub-optimal behaviors and clinical conditions. Although it is well known that positive and negative affective states bear important cognitive/behavioral consequences, the effect of emotional experiences on decision-making remains unclear due to the existence of many conflicting results. Inspired by the need to understand if and to what extent the current COVID-19 pandemic has determined changes in our decision-making processes by means of the unusual, prolonged experience of negative feelings, in this study we investigate the effect of anger, fear, sadness, physical and moral disgust on intertemporal and risky choices. Results show that all emotions significantly increase subjects’ preferences for immediate rewards over delayed ones, and for risky rewards over certain ones, in comparison to a “neutral emotion” condition, although the magnitude of the effect differs across emotions. In particular, we observed a more pronounced effect in the case of sadness and moral disgust. These findings contribute to the literature on emotions and decision-making by offering an alternative explanation to the traditional motivational appraisal theories. Specifically, we propose that the increased preference for immediate gratification and risky outcomes serves as a mechanism of self-reward aimed at down-regulating negative feelings and restore the individual’s “emotional balance”.

The globalizability of temporal discounting

Economic inequality is associated with extreme rates of temporal discounting, which is a behavioral pattern where individuals choose smaller, immediate financial gains over larger, delayed gains. Such patterns may feed into rising global inequality, yet it is unclear if they are a function of choice preferences or norms, or rather absence of sufficient resources to meet immediate needs. It is also not clear if these reflect true differences in choice patterns between income groups. We test temporal discounting and five intertemporal choice anomalies using local currencies and value standards in 61 countries. Across a diverse sample of 13,629 participants, we found highly consistent rates of choice anomalies. Individuals with lower incomes were not significantly different, but economic inequality and broader financial circumstances impact population choice patterns.