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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2025

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

Effects of delay sequence in a delay discounting task.

J R Macías-Navarrete¹, C V Dos Santos¹

¹Center for Studies and Research on Behavior (CEIC), Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico.

Behavioural Processes

|May 18, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Delay discounting, the reduced value of rewards over time, is steeper when delays increase sequentially. Prior experience with increasing delays also amplifies this effect in human participants.

Keywords:

Decreasing sequence Delay discounting Increasing sequence Order effect Systematic data

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Last Updated: Jun 26, 2025

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Area of Science:

Behavioral Economics
Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Delay discounting quantifies the devaluation of rewards with increasing time delays.
Understanding factors influencing delay discounting is crucial for behavioral interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how the sequence of delay blocks (increasing vs. decreasing) affects delay discounting.
To examine the impact of completing increasing delay sequences first on discounting behavior.

Main Methods:

Human participants completed a delay discounting task using a titrating procedure.
Participants experienced both increasing and decreasing sequences of delays, ranging from one day to ten years.
The order of sequence presentation (increasing first vs. decreasing first) was counterbalanced.

Main Results:

Delay discounting was significantly steeper when delays were presented in an increasing sequence compared to a decreasing sequence.
Participants exhibited steeper discounting when they completed the increasing sequence condition prior to the decreasing sequence condition.
Data systematicity was also influenced by the sequence of delays.

Conclusions:

The sequence of delay presentation critically influences delay discounting behavior.
Prior experience with increasing delays can lead to more pronounced discounting.
These findings highlight the role of sequential experience in shaping intertemporal choice.