Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach
How do people make decisions between an immediate but small reward and a delayed but large one? The outcome of such decisions indicates that people discount rewards by their delay and hence these outcomes are well described by discounting functions. However, to understand irregular decisions and dys...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Judgment and Decision Making |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500004575/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1827831159340400640 |
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| author | Stefan Scherbaum Simon Frisch Susanne Leiberg Steven J. Lade Thomas Goschke Maja Dshemuchadse |
| author_facet | Stefan Scherbaum Simon Frisch Susanne Leiberg Steven J. Lade Thomas Goschke Maja Dshemuchadse |
| author_sort | Stefan Scherbaum |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How do people make decisions between an immediate but small reward and a delayed but large one? The outcome of such decisions indicates that people discount rewards by their delay and hence these outcomes are well described by discounting functions. However, to understand irregular decisions and dysfunctional behavior one needs models which describe how the process of making the decision unfolds dynamically over time: how do we reach a decision and how do sequential decisions influence one another? Here, we present an attractor model that integrates into and extends discounting functions through a description of the dynamics leading to a final choice outcome within a trial and across trials. To validate this model, we derive qualitative predictions for the intra-trial dynamics of single decisions and for the inter-trial dynamics of sequences of decisions that are unique to this type of model. We test these predictions in four experiments based on a dynamic delay discounting computer game where we study the intra-trial dynamics of single decisions via mouse tracking and the inter-trial dynamics of sequences of decisions via sequentially manipulated options. We discuss how integrating decision process dynamics within and across trials can increase our understanding of the processes underlying delay discounting decisions and, hence, complement our knowledge about decision outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:40:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d1f44638a9de4820aa1cb1e3a1bcb157 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1930-2975 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:40:27Z |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Judgment and Decision Making |
| spelling | doaj.art-d1f44638a9de4820aa1cb1e3a1bcb1572023-09-03T09:45:42ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752016-09-011147249510.1017/S1930297500004575Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approachStefan Scherbaum0Simon Frisch1Susanne Leiberg2Steven J. Lade3Thomas Goschke4Maja Dshemuchadse5Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, ZellescherWeg 17, 01062 Dresden, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDepartment of Economics, University of ZurichStockholm Resilence Centre, Stockholm Univerisity NORDITA, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm UniversityDepartment of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDepartment of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenHow do people make decisions between an immediate but small reward and a delayed but large one? The outcome of such decisions indicates that people discount rewards by their delay and hence these outcomes are well described by discounting functions. However, to understand irregular decisions and dysfunctional behavior one needs models which describe how the process of making the decision unfolds dynamically over time: how do we reach a decision and how do sequential decisions influence one another? Here, we present an attractor model that integrates into and extends discounting functions through a description of the dynamics leading to a final choice outcome within a trial and across trials. To validate this model, we derive qualitative predictions for the intra-trial dynamics of single decisions and for the inter-trial dynamics of sequences of decisions that are unique to this type of model. We test these predictions in four experiments based on a dynamic delay discounting computer game where we study the intra-trial dynamics of single decisions via mouse tracking and the inter-trial dynamics of sequences of decisions via sequentially manipulated options. We discuss how integrating decision process dynamics within and across trials can increase our understanding of the processes underlying delay discounting decisions and, hence, complement our knowledge about decision outcomes.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500004575/type/journal_articledecision makingdelay discountingprocess dynamicsattractor dynamicsmouse trackinghysteresisneural attractor model |
| spellingShingle | Stefan Scherbaum Simon Frisch Susanne Leiberg Steven J. Lade Thomas Goschke Maja Dshemuchadse Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach Judgment and Decision Making decision making delay discounting process dynamics attractor dynamics mouse tracking hysteresis neural attractor model |
| title | Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach |
| title_full | Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach |
| title_fullStr | Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach |
| title_short | Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach |
| title_sort | process dynamics in delay discounting decisions an attractor dynamics approach |
| topic | decision making delay discounting process dynamics attractor dynamics mouse tracking hysteresis neural attractor model |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500004575/type/journal_article |
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