Children's evaluations of temporally distant outcomes

Forty 4th grade boys indicated their perceptions of value and of excitement at the expected receipt, either immediately or a week later, of good- and bad-tasting foods. They also chose between receiving immediately either the food originally expected immediately, or the one expected in a week's time. Delayed bad-tasting foods were judged less aversive and chosen more often than immediately expected ones. Evaluations and choices of good-tasting foods revealed similar, although weaker, trends. These findings are interpreted as reflecting the 10-year-old's confusion of subjective excitement and objective value, which arises from inadequate attention to the effects of delay. The findings are compared with results obtained in a similar study with 7th grade boys.