Amount of Reward Has Opposite Effects on the Discounting of Delayed and Probabilistic Outcomes

Previous research has shown that the value of large future rewards is discounted less steeply than is the value of small future rewards. These experiments extended this line of research to probabilistic rewards. Two experiments replicated the standard findings for delayed rewards but demonstrated th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition memory, and cognition, 1999-03, Vol.25 (2), p.418-427
Main Authors: Green, Leonard, Myerson, Joel, Ostaszewski, Pawel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition. Intelligence
Decision Making
Decision making. Choice
Delay of Gratification
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Male
Models, Statistical
Monetary Rewards
Probability
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reward
Values
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Summary:Previous research has shown that the value of large future rewards is discounted less steeply than is the value of small future rewards. These experiments extended this line of research to probabilistic rewards. Two experiments replicated the standard findings for delayed rewards but demonstrated that amount has an opposite effect on the discounting of probabilistic rewards. That is, large probabilistic amounts were discounted at the same or higher rates than small amounts. Although amount had opposite effects on the discounting of delayed and probabilistic rewards,nevertheless, the same form of mathematical function accurately described discounting of both types of reward. The findings suggest that fundamentally similar, but not identical, processes are involved in decision making regarding delayed and probabilistic rewards. The implications of these findings for impulsivity and self-control are discussed.
ISSN:0278-7393
1939-1285
DOI:10.1037/0278-7393.25.2.418