The Effects of Different Types of Restrictions on Decision-Making in Humans

Delay discounting reflects how rapidly a reward loses perceived value based on the delay to receiving the reward (MacKillop et al, 2011). For example, choosing to spend money now rather than saving money for retirement. One limitation of discounting research is that the conditions of the delay are not specified, so different participants might be interpreting the delays to the rewards differently. The current study sought to measure how individuals discount for three different hypothetical types of delay. The scenarios were (1) the participant is free to go about their day while waiting, (2) they are limited to a laboratory room with access to computer where they are free to browse the internet, and (3) a restricted scenario in which they are limited to a laboratory room with no sources of entertainment. A significant difference in discounting was found three types of delays (F_(1.86,201.31)= 6.124, p = .003). Specifically, there was a higher degree of discounting in the restricted scenario (M = 0.309, p \u3c .001) than in the free scenario (M = 0.393, p \u3c .001). Participants discounting more steeply in the restricted scenario suggests individuals are more impulsive when facing greater restrictions. Additional implications will also be discussed