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High temporal discounters overvalue immediate rewards rather than undervalue future rewards: an event-related brain
Avital S Cherniawsky1, Clay B Holroyd
1University de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. avital.cherniawsky@gmail.com
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
|September 18, 2012
Summary
High discounters, individuals who prefer immediate rewards, may overvalue immediate rewards rather than devalue future ones. This heightened sensitivity to immediate incentives was linked to greater reward positivity, a brain signal.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Impulsivity is linked to a preference for immediate over future rewards.
- Previous research suggests "high discounters" devalue future rewards.
- An alternative hypothesis is that high discounters overvalue immediate rewards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether high discounters overvalue immediate rewards.
- To examine the neural correlates of reward processing in intertemporal choice.
Main Methods:
- Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically reward positivity, were recorded during a reward task.
- Participants completed a temporal discounting task.
- Immediate and future rewards and nonrewards were presented.
Main Results:
- Immediate rewards elicited a significant reward positivity.
- Future rewards did not elicit a significant reward positivity.
- High discounters showed larger reward positivities to immediate rewards compared to low discounters.
Conclusions:
- High discounters appear to overvalue immediate rewards.
- This overvaluation may drive motivation for immediate monetary gains.
- Findings suggest a neural basis for impulsivity in reward processing.
