Delay discounting of different commodities.
When outcomes are delayed, their value is decreased. Delay discounting is a much-studied topic because it is correlated with certain disorders (e.g., pathological gambling). The present study attempts to determine how people would delay discount a number of different commodities, ranging from money to dating partners to federal education legislation. Participants completed delay discounting tasks pertaining to 5 different commodities, with a different set of 5 commodities for 2 groups. Results showed that different commodities were often discounted differently. Both data sets were also subjected to factor analysis. A 2-factor solution was found for both, suggesting that there are multiple "domains" of commodities. This finding is of interest because it suggests that measuring delay discounting for one commodity within a particular domain of commodities will be predictive of how people discount other commodities within that domain but will not be predictive of how they discount commodities within another domain.
Weatherly
Jeffrey N
JN
Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380, USA. jeffrey_weatherly@und.nodak.edu
Terrell
Heather K
HK
Derenne
Adam
A
D000293:Adolescent; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult