Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship
Recent experiments suggest that search direction causally affects the discounted valuation of delayed payoffs. Comparisons between options can increase individuals' patience toward future payoff options, while searching within options instead promotes impatient choices. We further test the robu...
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doaj-afbb4c700951404da3864e9a4385e2512020-11-25T00:59:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-11-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.02102377427Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent RelationshipMel W. Khaw0Ziang Li1Michael Woodford2Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesDepartment of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United StatesDepartment of Economics, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesRecent experiments suggest that search direction causally affects the discounted valuation of delayed payoffs. Comparisons between options can increase individuals' patience toward future payoff options, while searching within options instead promotes impatient choices. We further test the robustness and specificity of this relationship using a novel choice task. Here individuals choose between pairs of delayed payoffs instead of single delayed outcomes. We observe a relationship between search styles and temporal discounting that are the opposite of those previously reported. Integrators—those who tend to compare attributes within alternatives—discount and choose more slowly than comparators—those who are more likely to compare between alternatives. This finding supports and augments the view that individuals' search strategy is predictive of subsequent discount rates. In particular, the direction of this relationship is further modifiable based on the spatial layout and varying information within an individual's decision-making environment.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02102/fulltemporal discountingeye movementsvisual searchdecision-makingheuristics |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mel W. Khaw Ziang Li Michael Woodford |
spellingShingle |
Mel W. Khaw Ziang Li Michael Woodford Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship Frontiers in Psychology temporal discounting eye movements visual search decision-making heuristics |
author_facet |
Mel W. Khaw Ziang Li Michael Woodford |
author_sort |
Mel W. Khaw |
title |
Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship |
title_short |
Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship |
title_full |
Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship |
title_fullStr |
Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal Discounting and Search Habits: Evidence for a Task-Dependent Relationship |
title_sort |
temporal discounting and search habits: evidence for a task-dependent relationship |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2018-11-01 |
description |
Recent experiments suggest that search direction causally affects the discounted valuation of delayed payoffs. Comparisons between options can increase individuals' patience toward future payoff options, while searching within options instead promotes impatient choices. We further test the robustness and specificity of this relationship using a novel choice task. Here individuals choose between pairs of delayed payoffs instead of single delayed outcomes. We observe a relationship between search styles and temporal discounting that are the opposite of those previously reported. Integrators—those who tend to compare attributes within alternatives—discount and choose more slowly than comparators—those who are more likely to compare between alternatives. This finding supports and augments the view that individuals' search strategy is predictive of subsequent discount rates. In particular, the direction of this relationship is further modifiable based on the spatial layout and varying information within an individual's decision-making environment. |
topic |
temporal discounting eye movements visual search decision-making heuristics |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02102/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT melwkhaw temporaldiscountingandsearchhabitsevidenceforataskdependentrelationship AT ziangli temporaldiscountingandsearchhabitsevidenceforataskdependentrelationship AT michaelwoodford temporaldiscountingandsearchhabitsevidenceforataskdependentrelationship |
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