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Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance
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Uncommitted Commitment: Behavioral Strategy to Prevent Preference Reversals.

Richard Yi1, Hannah Milhorn2, Anahi Collado1

  • 11Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA.

Perspectives on Behavior Science
|May 23, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Soft commitment may prevent preference reversals in smokers. This strategy helped participants maintain choices over time, unlike a control group that showed increased preference reversals.

Keywords:
CommitmentDelay discountingIntertemporal choicePreference reversal

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Individuals often exhibit preference reversals, switching from larger-later (LL) to smaller-sooner (SS) rewards as they become imminent.
  • This phenomenon, explained by hyperbolic delay discounting, is central to self-control challenges.
  • Smokers, exhibiting high delay discounting, are particularly susceptible to these preference reversals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate "soft commitment" as a strategy to prevent preference reversals in smokers.
  • To assess if soft commitment can enhance choice persistence when faced with SS versus LL reward options.

Main Methods:

  • A pilot study involving 21 smokers divided into experimental (soft commitment) and control groups.
  • The experimental group underwent 3 weeks of daily SS/LL preference trials (commitment phase).
  • Both groups then participated in 8 days of daily choice trials between impending SS and LL rewards.

Main Results:

  • No significant overall difference in preference was observed between groups during the choice trials.
  • Hierarchical linear modeling indicated a decrease in LL preference over time in the control group, signifying preference reversals.
  • The experimental (soft commitment) group showed no significant change in LL preference, suggesting maintained choice persistence.

Conclusions:

  • Soft commitment may be an effective strategy for maintaining choice persistence.
  • This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that soft commitment can prevent preference reversals in delay discounting tasks.
  • Further research is warranted to explore the efficacy of soft commitment in diverse populations and contexts.