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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Published on: January 9, 2016

Rats value time differently on equivalent foraging and delay-discounting tasks.

Evan C Carter¹, A David Redish²

¹Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General

|July 1, 2016

Summary

Rats waited longer for rewards in foraging tasks than in delay-discounting tasks, even when reward rates were equal. Current intertemporal choice theories need revision to account for this behavioral difference.

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Last Updated: Mar 18, 2026

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Published on: September 10, 2018

Area of Science:

Behavioral economics
Animal cognition
Decision-making

Background:

Organisms must make decisions with consequences varying over time.
Intertemporal choice theories include delay-discounting and foraging models.
These models predict decision-making based on reward value and rate maximization.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare rat behavior on equivalent delay-discounting and foraging tasks.
To test the adequacy of existing intertemporal choice models.
To identify factors influencing decision-making under temporal constraints.

Main Methods:

Rats performed a 2-option delay-discounting task.
Rats performed a stay/go foraging task with equivalent reward rates and demands.
A suite of intertemporal choice models was applied to behavioral data.

Main Results:

Rats exhibited significantly longer waiting times on the foraging task compared to the delay-discounting task.
Choice performance was less optimal in terms of total reward on the foraging task.
Existing models failed to fully explain the observed behavioral differences.

Conclusions:

Factors previously considered irrelevant significantly impact intertemporal choice.
Current general theories of intertemporal choice are inadequate.
A novel model incorporating interacting decision-making systems is needed.