Automating Scoring of Delay Discounting for the 21- and 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaires

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Delay discounting quantifies how the subjective value of rewards decreases with temporal delay.
• The rate of delay discounting predicts various behaviors with societal implications.
• Monetary Choice Questionnaires (MCQs) are efficient tools for measuring delay discounting rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a user-friendly, automated Excel-based spreadsheet tool for scoring MCQs.
• To overcome the complexity of current MCQ scoring procedures, reducing barriers to their use.
• To provide an accessible method for calculating delay discounting rates.

Main Methods:

• Development of a freely available Excel spreadsheet tool.
• Implementation of automated scoring algorithms for both traditional and advanced MCQ scoring methods.
• Inclusion of an overview of the MCQ and its scoring principles within the tool's documentation.

Main Results:

• The Excel tool automates the scoring of MCQ response sets, saving researchers time and effort.
• The tool supports both conventional and contemporary approaches to calculating delay discounting rates.
• Provides a simplified and efficient method for researchers to obtain delay discounting measures.

Conclusions:

• The developed Excel tool significantly enhances the accessibility and practicality of using MCQs in research.
• Automated scoring facilitates wider adoption and application of delay discounting measures in behavioral science.
• Researchers are encouraged to utilize this tool for efficient and accurate assessment of delay discounting.