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SENSITIVITY TO CHANGING CONTINGENCIES IN AN IMPULSIVITY TASK
Author(s) -
Young Michael E.,
Webb Tara L.,
Rung Jillian M.,
Jacobs Eric A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1002/jeab.24
Subject(s) - impulsivity , task (project management) , psychology , delay discounting , interval (graph theory) , discounting , reinforcement , social psychology , cognitive psychology , contrast (vision) , developmental psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , mathematics , management , finance , combinatorics , economics
Using a video‐game‐based escalating interest task, participants repeatedly encountered a reward that gradually increased in value over a 10‐second interval. Responding early in the interval netted less immediate reward than responding later in the interval. Each participant experienced four different reward contingencies for waiting. These contingencies were changed three times as the experiment proceeded. Behavior tracked these changing contingencies, but wait times reflected long‐term carryover from the previously assigned contingencies. Both the tendency to respond slowly and the optimality of behavior were affected by the order of contingencies experienced. Demographic variables only weakly predicted behavior, and delay discounting rate in a hypothetical money choice task predicted choice only when the contingencies in the game were weaker.