title: Temporal discounting when the choice is between two delayed rewards.
abstract: The present experiments extend the temporal discounting paradigm from choice between an immediate and a delayed reward to choice between 2 delayed rewards: a smaller amount of money available sooner and a larger amount available later. Across different amounts and delays, the data were consistently well described by a hyperbola-like discounting function, and the degree of discounting decreased systematically as the delay to the sooner reward increased. Three theoretical models (the elimination-by-aspects, present-value comparison, and common-aspect attenuation hypotheses) were evaluated. The best account of the data was provided by the common-aspect attenuation hypothesis, according to which the common aspect of the choice alternatives (i.e., the time until the sooner reward is available) receives less weight in the decision-making process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. lgreen@wustl.edu
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myerson
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Macaux
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012201:Reward; D013997:Time Factors