Abstract
In this study, we examined whether reward contrast influences choice between delayed and probabilistic outcomes. Specifically, we predicted that the subjective value of an intermediate reward would seem relatively larger or smaller, respectively, if it followed choices involving a smaller or larger reward and would produce corresponding changes in rates of delay and probability discounting. In Experiment 1, subjects made choices about hypothetical $5,000 or $50 outcomes and then made choices about $500 outcomes. Delay-discounting rates for the $500 outcome were larger for Group $5,000 than for Group $50, whereas the opposite result was obtained for probability-discounting rates. In Experiment 2, we used a design that allowed for contrast effects to be assessed within subjects. Two groups made choices about delayed or probabilistic rewards. After completing question blocks in which the amount was $5,000 or $50, subjects responded to questions with an intermediate amount ($475/$525). For Group Delay, the present value of the intermediate reward was greater after the $50 block than after the $5,000 block, whereas the opposite was obtained for Group Probability. The results from both experiments confirmed the predictions of reward contrast and suggested that the subjective value of a monetary reward varies inversely with the prior reward amount.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bateson, M., & Kacelnik, A. (1998). Risk sensitive foraging: Decision making in variable environments. In R. Dukan (Ed.), Cognitive ecology: The evolutionary ecology of information processing and decision making (pp. 297–341). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Caraco, T., Martindale, S., & Whittam, T. S. (1980). An empirical demonstration of risk-sensitive foraging preferences. Animal Behaviour, 28, 820–830.
Chapman, G. B. (1996). Expectations and preferences for sequences of health and money. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 67, 59–75.
Chapman, G. B. (1998). Sooner or later: The psychology of intertemporal choice. In D. Medin (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 38, pp. 83–113). San Diego: Academic Press.
Christensen, J., Parker, S., Silberberg, A., & Hursh, S. (1998). Tradeoffs in choice between risk and delay depend on monetary amounts. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 69, 123–139.
Estle, S. J., Green, L., Myerson, J., & Holt, D. D. (2006). Differential effects of amount on temporal and probability discounting of gains and losses. Memory & Cognition, 34, 914–928.
Flaherty, C. F. (1996). Incentive relativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Grace, R. C. (1999). The matching law and amount-dependent exponential discounting as accounts of self-control choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 71, 27–44.
Green, L., & Myerson, J. (2004). A discounting framework for choice with delayed and probabilistic rewards. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 769–779.
Green, L., Myerson, J., Holt, D., Slevin, R., & Estle, J. (2004). Discounting of delayed food rewards in pigeons and rats: Is there a magnitude effect? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 81, 39–50.
Green, L., Myerson, J., & Ostaszewski, P. (1999). Amount of reward has opposite effects on the discounting of delayed and probabilistic outcomes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 25, 418–427.
Green, L., Myerson, J., & Schneider, R. (2003). Is there a magnitude effect in tipping? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 10, 381–386.
Holt, D. D., Green, L., & Myerson, J. (2003). Is discounting impulsive? Evidence from temporal and probability discounting in gambling and non-gambling college students. Behavioural Processes, 64, 355–367.
Johnson, M. W., & Bickel, W. K. (2002). Within-subject comparison of real and hypothetical money rewards in delay discounting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 77, 129–146.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47, 263–291.
Kirby, K. N. (1997). Bidding on the future: Evidence against normative discounting of delayed rewards. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 126, 54–70.
Lesieur, H. R., & Blume, S. B. (1987). The South Oaks Gambling Screen (The SOGS): A new instrument for the identification of pathological gamblers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 1184–1188.
Lockhead, G. R. (2004). Absolute judgments are relative: A reinterpretation of some psychophysical ideas. Review of General Psychology, 8, 265–272.
Madden, G. J., Begotka, A. M., Raiff, B. R., & Kastern, L. L. (2003). Delay discounting of real and hypothetical rewards. Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 11, 139–145.
Mazur, J. E. (1984). Tests of an equivalence rule for fixed and variable reinforcer delays. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 10, 426–436.
Mazur, J. E. (1988). Choice between small certain and large uncertain reinforcers. Animal Learning & Behavior, 16, 199–205.
Moeller, F. G., Barratt, E. S., Dougherty, D. M., Schmitz, J. M., & Swann, A. C. (2001). Psychiatric aspects of impulsivity. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1783–1793.
Myerson, J., & Green, L. (1995). Discounting of delayed rewards: Models of individual choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 64, 263–276.
Myerson, J., Green, L., Hanson, J. S., Holt, D. D., & Estle, S. J. (2003). Discounting delayed and probabilistic rewards: Processes and traits. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 619–635.
Myerson, J., Green, L., & Warusawitharana, J. (2001). Area under the curve as a measure of discounting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 76, 235–243.
Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995). Factor structure of the Barratt impulsiveness scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 768–774.
Pietras, C. J., Locey, M. L., & Hackenberg, T. D. (2003). Human risky choice under temporal constraints: Tests of an energy-budget model. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 80, 59–75.
Rachlin, H., Raineri, A., & Cross, D. (1991). Subjective probability and delay. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 55, 233–244.
Reynolds, G. S. (1961). Behavioral contrast. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 4, 57–71.
Richards, J. B., Mitchell, S. H., de Wit, H., & Seiden, L. S. (1997). Determination of discount functions in rats with an adjusting-amount procedure. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 67, 353–366.
Rodriguez, M. L., & Logue, A. W. (1988). Adjusting delay to reinforcement: Comparing choice in pigeons and humans. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 14, 105–117.
Schoenfelder, T. E., & Hantula, D. A. (2003). A job with a future? Delay discounting, magnitude effects, and domain independence of utility for career decisions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 62, 43–55.
Tayler, S., Arantes, J., & Grace, R. C. (in press). Temporal discounting for monetary and close relationship outcomes. Personal Relationships.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1992). Cumulative prospect theory: An analysis of decision under uncertainty. Journal of Risk & Uncertainty, 5, 297–323.
Williams, B. A. (1983). Another look at contrast in multiple schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 39, 345–384.
Williams, B. A. (2002). Behavioral contrast redux. Animal Learning & Behavior, 30, 1–20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dai, Z., Grace, R.C. & Kemp, S. Reward contrast in delay and probability discounting. Learning & Behavior 37, 281–288 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.37.3.281
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.37.3.281