Abstract
Time occupies a central role in both the induction of causal relationships and determining the subjective value of rewards. Delays devalue rewards and also impair learning of relationships between events. The mathematical relation between the time until a delayed reward and its present value has been characterized as a hyperbola-like function, and increasing delays of reinforcement tend to elicit judgments or response rates that similarly show a negatively accelerated decay pattern. Furthermore, neurological research implicates both the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in both these processes. Since both processes are broadly concerned with the concepts of reward, value, and time, involve a similar functional form, and have been identified as involving the same specific brain regions, it seems tempting to assume that the two processes are underpinned by the same cognitive or neural mechanisms. We set out to determine experimentally whether a common cognitive mechanism underlies these processes, by contrasting individual performances on causal judgment and delay discounting tasks. Results from each task corresponded with previous findings in the literature, but no relation was found between the two tasks. The task was replicated and extended by including two further measures, the Barrett Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and a causal attribution task. Performance on this latter task was correlated with results on the causal judgment task, and also with the non-planning component of the BIS, but the results from the delay discounting task was not correlated with either causal learning task nor the BIS. Implications for current theories of learning are considered.
Highlights
The role of time is central to learning and behavioral processes
This suggests that when engaging in causal learning, thinking, or reasoning, delays may have a consistent effect upon a given individual from one task to another. It follows that an individual could potentially be categorized as being “delay susceptible” or “delay resistant” depending on their ability to recognize delayed causes or the extent to which they consider delayed effects to be evidence in favor of a causal relation. This is a strong parallel with evidence that has been obtained from studies of intertemporal choice and delay discounting, as reviewed in the Introduction, which suggests that individuals differ in the extent to which they discount delayed rewards
We considered that the role of delay in both reducing the subjective value of reward and impairing causal attribution might be similar within individuals, but this proposition was not supported by our experimental findings
Summary
The role of time is central to learning and behavioral processes. The precise temporal arrangements of when we perform actions, when the consequences of those action manifest, and when other events occur alongside these, can have a profound influence on the way in which such events are interpreted. Researchers in fields as diverse as neurology, computer science, and psychotherapy have long been interested in the ways in which our behavior is sensitive to time, and which psychological processes and underlying neurological structures govern such activity. Though virtually any stimulus has the potential to reinforce behavior, the typical conception of a reward is that which has a particular motivational significance or adaptive value to the organism, such as food. Animals exhibit preference for larger rewards over smaller rewards. Immediate rewards are preferred to delayed rewards, when the rewards are of equal magnitude; numerous studies have demonstrated that in certain cases, animals will choose a smaller, immediate reward over a larger, delayed reward. Delays of reinforcement result in the objective value of the reward being discounted, the term delay discounting is used to describe this process
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
