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The stability of delay discounting across time has been well-established. However, limited research has examined the stability of probability discounting, and no studies of the stability of effort discounting are available. The present study assessed the steady-state characteristics of delay, probability, and effort discounting tasks across time with hypothetical rewards in humans, as well as whether response characteristics suggested a common discounting equation. Participants completed delay, probability, and effort discounting tasks on three occasions. We found moderate relative stability of delay and probability tasks, and similar evidence for absolute stability across time for all tasks. The interclass correlations coefficient showed some correspondence across time points and tasks, and higher levels of between subject variability, especially for the effort discounting task, suggesting trait level variables has a stronger influence on performance than state level variables. Performance on the delay and probability tasks were moderately correlated and similar mathematical functions fit choice patterns on both tasks (hyperbolic), suggesting that delay and probability discounting processes shared some common elements. Lower correlations and different function fits suggested that effort discounting involves more unique features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effort discounting is the decrease in the subjective value of a reward as the effort required to obtain it increases. In the present study, we assessed the effects of two procedures (fixed sequence and titrating sequence procedures) and two effort types (climbing floors and pedaling) on data-systematicity and the rate of effort discounting with human participants. There were no differences in the rate of discounting or in the production of systematic data between procedures. However, discounting was steeper when the required effort was climbing floors compared to pedaling, and there were more nonsystematic data production due to the use of pedaling as the required effort. Both the hyperbolic and parabolic models were fitted to the indifference points and there was a better fit of the hyperbolic model compared with the parabolic model. The effort type, but not procedure, affected the level of data systematicity and influences the degree of effort discounting, suggesting these two factors influence behavior by different mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discounting of costly rewards is robustly correlated with maladaptive tendencies like substance use, relapse, and poor health habits. Because of this, many laboratory-based interventions have been developed to reduce discounting. Most of these interventions aim to reduce discounting of delayed rewards (delay discounting) but many desirable outcomes in daily life also require effort. The present experiment sought to evaluate the efficacy of episodic future thinking (EFT) to reduce effort discounting. EFT has proven effective in reducing delay discounting, but has not been evaluated as a means of reducing effort discounting. We also evaluated the influence of different types of examples provided to participants during the EFT and control tasks. In a 2x2 between-groups design, participants were randomly assigned to an EFT or control group, combined with one of two example-type conditions. Participants completed the EFT or control tasks, followed by delay- and effort-discounting tasks. As in prior studies, EFT significantly reduced delay discounting, but the effect on effort discounting fell short of significance. Example type did not affect these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discounting refers to decreases in the subjective value of an outcome with increases in some attribute of that outcome. The attributes most commonly studied are delay and probability, with far less research on effort and social discounting. Although these attributes all represent costs that reduce subjective value, it is as yet unclear how the extent to which they do so is related at the individual level. Accordingly, the present study examined the degree to which individual participants discounted hypothetical monetary rewards on each of four discounting tasks in which the delay, probability, effort, and number of people with whom the money was to be shared were manipulated. At the group level, larger amounts were discounted less steeply than smaller amounts when delay and effort were varied, whereas larger amounts were discounted more steeply when probability and number of people were varied. At the individual level, the correlational pattern was examined using exploratory factor analysis. A six-factor structure (with separate factors for delay and effort, and two factors each for social and probability discounting) described the relations among indifference points. At a more molar level, a two-factor structure, which corresponded to the direction of the observed magnitude effects, described the relations among area-under-the-curve measures of discounting in the eight conditions resulting from crossing two monetary amounts with the four cost factors. We conclude that despite sharing some similarities, individual and group differences in discounting involving the different types of costs reflect mostly separate processes and traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When making a choice, people like to have options, but an emerging literature on "choice overload" suggests that the provision of too many options results in adverse experiences, including a depletion of cognitive resources and postdecision feelings of regret. A strong implication is that individuals should shy away from situations involving too many options. The present study examined whether this expression of choice overload would emerge when human services workers confronted hypothetical scenarios involving choices of treatment strategies. On different trials, the participants indicated preference for single-option, limited-options, and extensive-options scenarios, wherein the number of extensive-options alternatives geometrically increased across successive trials. In general, preference for extensive-options scenarios decreased with the number of options that they incorporated. Preference for extensive options was well described by a negatively decelerating, hyperbolic-like function that typically is employed in studies of discounting. Moreover, as expected based on the choice overload framework, participants who were categorized as "maximizers" using the Maximization and Regret Scales demonstrated lower discounting (i.e., lower k value) than those categorized as "satisficers." We discuss how a quantitative discounting framework may be fruitfully applied to advance the study of choice overload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]