Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 4, 2025
07:47
Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
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Are You Sure: Preference and Ambivalence in Delay Discounting
Sergej Grunevski1, Aaron P Smith1, Richard Yi1
1Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
|February 10, 2022
Summary
Ambivalence in delay discounting (DD) tasks peaks near an individual's DD rate. This ambivalence reduces the influence of reward delay on choices, impacting intertemporal decision-making research.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Delay discounting (DD) is extensively studied for its clinical relevance.
- Traditional DD tasks assess choices between immediate and delayed rewards.
- Existing scoring methods overlook trial-level decision ambivalence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate within-individual variability of trial-level ambivalence in DD.
- To explore the relationship between ambivalence and delay discounting rates.
- To determine how ambivalence affects choices in intertemporal decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Monetary Choice Questionnaire, a standard DD assessment.
- Analyzed trial-level choices to quantify participant ambivalence.
- Examined the correlation between ambivalence levels and DD rates.
Main Results:
- Trial-level ambivalence was found to peak around the individual's estimated DD rate.
- Increased ambivalence diminished the impact of reward delay differences on choice.
- Greater delay differences led to a reduced likelihood of choosing larger, later rewards when ambivalent.
Conclusions:
- Ambivalence is a significant construct in intertemporal decision-making.
- This finding offers a new perspective for understanding DD and its clinical implications.
- Ambivalence may be a key factor in studies manipulating individual DD rates.
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