The effects of context priming on intertemporal decision-making

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The effects of context priming on intertemporal decision-making Joanna Thio1, Carsten Murawski2 and Stefan Bode1* 1 University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Australia 2 University of Melbourne, Department of Finance, Australia Background In our society, we are constantly surrounded with advertisements designed to influence immediate purchase. Studies have shown that these environmental cues can bias preferences and their neural encoding towards sooner rewards over rewards in the future. However, it is an open question if similar stimuli can also prime people to delay gratification. In this study, we investigated whether images that differed in their present- and future-relatedness could prime temporal discounting such that present-related images would bias people towards smaller, sooner rewards and future-related images towards larger, later rewards. Methods Forty participants (20-25 years) were shown three sets of images from the International Affective Picture Set that were present-related, future-related, or neutral. Each image was presented in the background while participants performed an attention-demanding foreground task. Image presentation alternated with a temporal discounting task in which participants indicated which amount ($20-$40) in the future (in 3-30 days) was perceived as being equal to $20 today. After the experiment, they rated the background images on a) arousal, b) valence, and c) the extent they associated each prime with the present or the future (time). Results Significant differences were found between present and future time ratings for the respective a priori image categories, indicating that images were perceived as hypothesised. However, for both present-related and future-related images, we found a significant priming effect towards immediate rewards and no priming towards future rewards. The priming effect was stronger for longer delays. All images were further rated as high on arousal and valence, and these dimensions were highly correlated (present images: r =.63; future images: r =.55). Discussion Contrary to expectations, our study shows that despite the accurate perception of the present- and future-relatedness of images, both types of primes established a present bias, suggesting that the present-future dimension cannot explain the observed priming effects. Instead, arousal and valence may be driving the priming. We reason that a threshold effect may exist whereby a certain level of arousal and positivity is needed to induce present priming and impact on the neural coding of reward, as shown in recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Acknowledgements This work was funded by the University of Melbourne. Keywords: temporal discounting, Decision-making and Neuroeconomics, priming, temporal preferences, Valence, Arousal Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Executive Processes Citation: Thio J, Murawski C and Bode S (2013). The effects of context priming on intertemporal decision-making. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00077 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Oct 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Stefan Bode, University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia, 314026@frontiersin.org Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Joanna Thio Carsten Murawski Stefan Bode Google Joanna Thio Carsten Murawski Stefan Bode Google Scholar Joanna Thio Carsten Murawski Stefan Bode PubMed Joanna Thio Carsten Murawski Stefan Bode Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.