Diller James W, Patros Connor H G, Prentice Paula R
Eastern Connecticut State University, Department of Psychology, 83 Windham Street, Willimantic, CT 06226, USA.
Behav Processes. 2011 Jul;87(3):306-9. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.05.001. Epub 2011 May 20.
Temporal discounting is the reduction of the value of a reinforcer as a function of increasing delay to its presentation. Impulsive individuals discount delayed consequences more rapidly than self-controlled individuals, and impulsivity has been related to substance abuse, gambling, and other problem behaviors. A growing body of literature has identified biological correlates of impulsivity, though little research to date has examined relations between delay discounting and markers of poor health (e.g., cardiovascular reactivity to stress). We evaluated the relation between one aspect of impulsivity, measured using a computerized temporal discounting task, and heart rate reactivity, measured as a change in heart rate from rest during a serial subtraction task. A linear regression showed that individuals who were more reactive to stress responded more impulsively (i.e., discounted delayed reinforcers more rapidly). When results were stratified by gender, the effect was observed for females, but not for males. This finding supports previous research on gender differences in cardiovascular reactivity and suggests that this type of reactivity may be an important correlate of impulsive behavior.
时间折扣是指强化物的价值随着其呈现延迟的增加而降低。冲动的个体比自我控制的个体更快地对延迟后果进行折扣，并且冲动性与药物滥用、赌博及其他问题行为有关。越来越多的文献已经确定了冲动性的生物学相关因素，尽管迄今为止很少有研究考察延迟折扣与健康不佳指标（如心血管对应激的反应性）之间的关系。我们评估了使用计算机化时间折扣任务测量的冲动性的一个方面与心率反应性之间的关系，心率反应性通过在连续减法任务中从静息心率的变化来测量。线性回归表明，对应激反应更强的个体反应更冲动（即更快地对延迟强化物进行折扣）。当按性别分层分析结果时，该效应在女性中观察到，但在男性中未观察到。这一发现支持了先前关于心血管反应性性别差异的研究，并表明这种类型的反应性可能是冲动行为的一个重要相关因素。
