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Tunney RJ, Raybould JN. Thinking about neither death nor poverty affects delay discounting, but episodic foresight does: Three replications of the effects of priming on time preferences. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:838-849. [PMID: 35422160 PMCID: PMC10031630 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221097047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
We outline three attempts to replicate experiments that reported priming effects on time preferences measured by delay discounting. Experiment 1 tested the claim that images of poverty prime impulsive choice in people from less affluent backgrounds compared with people from more affluent backgrounds. Experiment 2 tested the claim that mortality salience-thinking about death-primes people to place more value on the future than people who thought about dental surgery. Experiment 3 tested the claim that an episodic foresight manipulation primes greater discounting than no episodic foresight. Experiments 1 and 2 failed to replicate the effects of priming on discount rates. Experiment 3 was a successful and very close replication of the effect of episodic foresight on discount rates.
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Ballance BC, Tuen YJ, Petrucci AS, Orwig W, Safi OK, Madan CR, Palombo DJ. Imagining emotional events benefits future-oriented decisions. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 75:2332-2348. [PMID: 35225089 PMCID: PMC9619259 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221086637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
How does imagining future events-whether positive or negative-influence our choices in the present? Prior work has shown the simulation of hypothetical future events, dubbed episodic future thinking, can alter the propensity to engage in delay discounting (the tendency to devalue future rewards) and does so in a valence-specific manner. Some research shows that positive episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting, whereas negative future thinking augments it. However, more recent research indicates that both positive and negative episodic future thinking reduce delay discounting, suggesting an effect of episodic future thinking that is independent of valence. In this study, we sought to replicate and extend these latter findings. Here, participants (N = 604; N = 572 after exclusions) completed an online study. In the baseline task, participants completed a delay discounting task. In the experimental task, they engaged in episodic future thinking before completing a second delay discounting task. Participants were randomly assigned to engage in either positive, neutral, or negative episodic future thinking. In accordance with Bulley et al., we found that episodic future thinking, regardless of valence, reduced delay discounting. Although episodic future thinking shifted decision-making in all conditions, the effect was stronger when participants engaged in positive episodic future thinking, even after accounting for personal relevance and vividness of imagined events. These findings suggest that episodic future thinking may promote future-oriented choices by contextualising the future, and this effect is further strengthened when the future is tied to positive emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Braedon C Ballance
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Young Ji Tuen
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Aria S Petrucci
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - William Orwig
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Omran K Safi
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Daniela J Palombo
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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3
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Lee S, Parthasarathi T, Cooper N, Zauberman G, Lerman C, Kable JW. A neural signature of the vividness of prospective thought is modulated by temporal proximity during intertemporal decision making. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2214072119. [PMID: 36279433 PMCID: PMC9636959 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214072119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Why do people discount future rewards? Multiple theories in psychology argue that one reason is that future events are imagined less vividly than immediate events, thereby diminishing their perceived value. Here we provide neuroscientific evidence for this proposal. First, we construct a neural signature of the vividness of prospective thought, using an fMRI dataset where the vividness of imagined future events is orthogonal to their valence by design. Then, we apply this neural signature in two additional fMRI datasets, each using a different delay-discounting task, to show that neural measures of vividness decline as rewards are delayed farther into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangil Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | | | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Gal Zauberman
- Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511
| | - Caryn Lerman
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033
| | - Joseph W. Kable
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
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Abstract
Suicide is a leading cause of death, and presently, there is no definitive clinical indicator of future suicide behaviors. Anhedonia, a transdiagnostic symptom reflecting diminished ability to experience pleasure, has recently emerged as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). This overview, therefore, has the following aims. First, prior research relating anhedonia to STBs will be reviewed, with a particular focus on clarifying whether anhedonia is more closely associated with suicidal thoughts versus behaviors. Second, the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria Positive Valence Systems provide a useful heuristic to probe anhedonia across different units of analysis, including clinical symptoms, behaviors, neural mechanisms, and molecular targets. Accordingly, anhedonia-related constructs linked to STBs will be detailed as well as promising next steps for future research. Third, although anhedonia is not directly addressed in leading suicide theories, this review will provide potential inroads to explore anhedonia within diathesis-stress and interpersonal suicide frameworks. Last, novel approaches to treat anhedonia as a means of reducing STBs will be examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Randy P Auerbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
- Division of Clinical Developmental Neuroscience, Sackler Institute, New York, NY, USA.
| | - David Pagliaccio
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
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Sonmez F. The effect of COVID-19-induced mortality salience on delay discounting: a replication. JOURNAL OF THE ECONOMIC SCIENCE ASSOCIATION 2021. [PMCID: PMC8570231 DOI: 10.1007/s40881-021-00109-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
This study is a conceptual replication of Kelley & Schmeichel (PLOS ONE 10: e0144228, 2015), which found that thinking about death reduces delay discounting. Unlike the original study, the current study was conducted in an environment where there was a real and tangible mortality threat across the world, that is, COVID-19. Contrary to the findings of the original study, results of the current study revealed that thinking about death increases delay discounting, such that participants who were primed with death thoughts traded “₺200 now” for “₺342.35 three months later,” whereas those in the control condition traded “₺200 now” for “₺319.27 three months later”. The current study also explored the moderating roles of goal orientation and self-esteem in the effect of mortality salience on delay discounting; however, it failed to provide evidence for the moderating roles of these variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatih Sonmez
- Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Muş Alparslan University, Muş, Turkey
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Scholten H, Scheres A, de Water E, Graf U, Granic I, Luijten M. Behavioral trainings and manipulations to reduce delay discounting: A systematic review. Psychon Bull Rev 2019; 26:1803-1849. [PMID: 31270766 PMCID: PMC6863952 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-019-01629-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In everyday decision-making, individuals make trade-offs between short-term and long-term benefits or costs. Depending on many factors, individuals may choose to wait for larger delayed reward, yet in other situations they may prefer the smaller, immediate reward. In addition to within-subject variation in the short-term versus long-term reward trade-off, there are also interindividual differences in delay discounting (DD), which have been shown to be quite stable. The extent to which individuals discount the value of delayed rewards turns out to be associated with important health and disorder-related outcomes: the more discounting, the more unhealthy or problematic choices. This has led to the hypothesis that DD can be conceptualized as trans-disease process. The current systematic review presents an overview of behavioral trainings and manipulations that have been developed to reduce DD in human participants aged 12 years or older. Manipulation studies mostly contain one session and measure DD directly after the manipulation. Training studies add a multiple session training component that is not per se related to DD, in between two DD task measurements. Ninety-eight studies (151 experiments) were identified that tested behavioral trainings and manipulations to decrease DD. Overall, results indicated that DD can be decreased, showing that DD is profoundly context dependent and changeable. Most promising avenues to pursue in future research seem to be acceptance-based/mindfulness-based trainings, and even more so manipulations involving a future orientation. Limitations and recommendations are discussed to identify the mechanistic processes that allow for changes in discount rate and behavior accordingly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanneke Scholten
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Anouk Scheres
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Erik de Water
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Uta Graf
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Isabela Granic
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Maartje Luijten
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Gao T, Zhou Y, Li W, Pfabigan DM, Han S. Neural mechanisms of reinforcement learning under mortality threat. Soc Neurosci 2019; 15:170-185. [PMID: 31526160 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1668846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement learning - to adjust behaviors in response to feedback regarding reward and punishment - is pivotal to our survival. The present work investigated whether and how reinforcement learning is affected by thoughts of mortality that endanger one's survival. We recorded electroencephalographic while adults performed a probabilistic learning task that required a forced-choice between two visual patterns for monetary reward for different beneficiaries (i.e., self, stranger, or no one) followed by reward or no-reward feedback. We found that verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) enlarged an early positive component (P1) at the occipital electrodes but decreased a late positive potential (LPP) at the frontocentral electrodes in response to learning stimuli. While no-reward feedback relative to reward feedback stimuli elicited a feedback-related negativity (FRN) and increased non-phase locked theta band (4-8 Hz) activity at the frontocentral electrodes during reward learning for all beneficiaries, verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) significantly reduced the FRN amplitude but failed to modulate the theta band activity. These results suggest that mortality salience enhances early attentional processing but dampens late cognitive evaluation of the learning stimuli during reinforcement learning. Moreover, mortality salience decreases the neural sensitivity to feedback signaling the absence of monetary reward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyu Gao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenxin Li
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Daniela M Pfabigan
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Hayashi Y, Foreman AM, Friedel JE, Wirth O. Threat appeals reduce impulsive decision making associated with texting while driving: A behavioral economic approach. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0213453. [PMID: 30845197 PMCID: PMC6405105 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of threat appeals in influencing impulsive decision making associated with texting while driving. The participants in the treatment group were exposed to a threatening message about the danger of texting while driving, whereas those in the control group were exposed to a non-threatening message. Following the exposure to either message, the participants completed a delay-discounting task that assessed the degree of impulsive decision making in a hypothetical texting-while-driving scenario. A comparison between the groups revealed that the threat appeals reduced the degree of impulsive decision making associated with texting while driving. In addition, the threat appeals led to greater anticipated regret from texting while driving, less favorable attitudes toward texting while driving, and decreased intentions to text while driving in the future in the treatment group. These results suggest that video-based threat appeals are promising intervention strategies for the public health challenge of texting while driving. Implications from the behavioral economic perspective are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Hayashi
- Division of Social Sciences and Education, Pennsylvania State University, Hazleton, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Anne M. Foreman
- Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Jonathan E. Friedel
- Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Oliver Wirth
- Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
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Rung JM, Madden GJ. Experimental reductions of delay discounting and impulsive choice: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Exp Psychol Gen 2018; 147:1349-1381. [PMID: 30148386 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Many behaviors posing significant risks to public health are characterized by repeated decisions to forego better long-term outcomes in the face of immediate temptations. Steeply discounting the value of delayed outcomes often underlies a pattern of impulsive choice. Steep delay discounting is correlated with addictions (e.g., substance abuse, obesity) and behaviors such as seatbelt use and risky sexual activity. As evidence accumulates suggesting steep delay discounting plays a causal role in these maladaptive behaviors, researchers have begun testing methods for reducing discounting. In this first systematic and comprehensive review of this literature, the findings of 92 articles employing different methodologies to reduce discounting are evaluated narratively and meta-analytically. Although most of the methods reviewed produced significant reductions in discounting, they varied in effect sizes. Most methods were ideal for influencing one-off choices (e.g., framing and priming manipulations), although other successful manipulations, such as episodic future thinking, could be incorporated into existing therapies designed to produce longer-lasting changes in decision-making. The largest and longest-lasting effects were produced by learning-based manipulations, although translational research is needed to determine the generality and clinical utility of these methods. Methodological shortcomings in the existing literature and suggestions for ameliorating these issues are discussed. This review reveals a variety of methods with translational potential, which, through continued refinement, may prove effective in reducing impulsive choice and its associated maladaptive decisions that negatively impact quality of life. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Sheffer CE, Miller A, Bickel WK, Devonish JA, O'Connor RJ, Wang C, Rivard C, Gage-Bouchard EA. The treasure of now and an uncertain future: Delay discounting and health behaviors among cancer survivors. Cancer 2018; 124:4711-4719. [PMID: 30343494 DOI: 10.1002/cncr.31759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Revised: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The identification of new therapeutic targets to improve health behaviors among cancer survivors (CS) is likely to improve cancer treatment outcomes. Delay discounting (DD) rate is the degree to which one devalues rewards as a function of time to receipt. Lower DD rates (ie, prioritizing long-term over immediate rewards) are associated with healthier behaviors. CS often experience distress and thoughts of early mortality that can potentially shift priorities to the present and negatively impact DD rates, especially when newly diagnosed. Understanding relations between DD and health behaviors among CS will contribute to the examination of DD as a therapeutic target for improving health behaviors for CS. METHOD CS (n = 1001) were recruited from a web panel and administered a web-based questionnaire. Multivariate models examined relations among DD rate, years since diagnosis, and 10 health behavior indicators. We hypothesized that 1) higher DD rates would be associated with fewer years since diagnosis, and 2) lower DD rates would be associated with healthier behaviors, moderated by years since diagnosis. RESULTS In general, higher DD rates were associated with fewer years since diagnosis. Higher DD rates were associated with more alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, other tobacco use, tanning booth use, and conversely, greater adherence to annual primary care visits. A significant interaction between DD rate and years since diagnosis was not found. CONCLUSION Lower DD rates are associated with several important healthy lifestyle behaviors. DD rate is a promising therapeutic target for new interventions to improve multiple health behaviors among CS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Austin Miller
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York
| | - Warren K Bickel
- Addiction Recovery Research Center, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, Virginia
| | | | | | - Chong Wang
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York
| | - Cheryl Rivard
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York
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Ciaramelli E, Giannetti C, Orsini R. Does death make us all equal? Materialism and status-seeking under Mortality Salience. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s12232-018-0309-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Wu J, Balliet D, Tybur JM, Arai S, Van Lange PA, Yamagishi T. Life history strategy and human cooperation in economic games. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Abstract
AbstractSocioeconomic differences in behaviour are pervasive and well documented, but their causes are not yet well understood. Here, we make the case that a cluster of behaviours is associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES), which we call “the behavioural constellation of deprivation.” We propose that the relatively limited control associated with lower SES curtails the extent to which people can expect to realise deferred rewards, leading to more present-oriented behaviour in a range of domains. We illustrate this idea using the specific factor of extrinsic mortality risk, an important factor in evolutionary theoretical models. We emphasise the idea that the present-oriented behaviours of the constellation are a contextually appropriate response to structural and ecological factors rather than a pathology or a failure of willpower. We highlight some principles from evolutionary theoretical models that can deepen our understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities can become amplified and embedded. These principles are that (1) small initial disparities can lead to larger eventual inequalities, (2) feedback loops can embed early-life circumstances, (3) constraints can breed further constraints, and (4) feedback loops can operate over generations. We discuss some of the mechanisms by which SES may influence behaviour. We then review how the contextually appropriate response perspective that we have outlined fits with other findings about control and temporal discounting. Finally, we discuss the implications of this interpretation for research and policy.
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