Effects of Reward Magnitude Frames on Measures of Delay Discounting in a Hypothetical Money Scenario
Department
Psychology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-30-2020
Abstract
The current study analyzed the effects of three frames of reward magnitude – quantity, volume, and duration – on the rate at which college students discounted hypothetical, delayed monetary rewards. Hypothetical scenarios were presented using the fill-in-the-blank discounting questionnaire and participants made choices between immediate and delayed hypothetical monetary rewards. Scenarios framed the monetary choices as (a) quantity of dollar bills, (b) height (inches) of a stack of dollar bills, and (c) duration of time spent in a hypothetical cash machine to collect dollar bills. For each scenario, participants’ subjective values were used to calculate the area under the curve (AuC). Framing resulted in a moderate effect size: the duration frame yielded significantly smaller AuC values compared to the quantity and volume frames. Thus, the framing of reward magnitude was a significant variable in controlling discounting rates for hypothetical, delayed monetary rewards. Subsequent investigations should be aware of the independent effects of the reward magnitude frames on delay discounting rates.
Recommended Citation
Harman, Michael; Kodak, Tiffany; and McKerchar, Todd, "Effects of Reward Magnitude Frames on Measures of Delay Discounting in a Hypothetical Money Scenario" (2020). Research, Publications & Creative Work. 105.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/fac_res/105
Publication/Presentation Information
Harman, M., Kodak, T. and McKerchar, T. (July 2020) "Effects of Reward Magnitude Frames on Measures of Delay Discounting in a Hypothetical Money Scenario." Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.620