Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2011 Nov;96(3):427-39. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2011.96-423.
Delay discounting is the decline in the present value of a reward with delay to its receipt. Across a variety of species, populations, and reward types, value declines hyperbolically with delay. Value declines steeply with shorter delays, but more shallowly with longer delays. Quantitative modeling provides precise measures to characterize the form of the discount function. These measures may be regarded as higher-order dependent variables, intervening variables, or hypothetical constructs. I suggest the degree of delay discounting may be a personality trait. In the end, the ontological status of measures of delay discounting is irrelevant. Whatever delay discounting may be, its study has provided the field of behavior analysis and other areas measures with robust generality and predictive validity for a variety of significant human problems. Research on moderating the degree of delay discounting has the potential to produce substantial societal benefits.
延迟折扣是指随着奖励接收时间的延迟，奖励的当前价值下降。在各种物种、群体和奖励类型中，价值随着延迟呈双曲线下降。价值随着较短的延迟急剧下降，但随着较长的延迟则较为平缓。定量模型提供了精确的措施来描述折扣函数的形式。这些措施可以被视为高阶因变量、中介变量或假设结构。我认为，延迟折扣的程度可能是一种人格特质。最终，延迟折扣的测量的本体论地位是无关紧要的。无论延迟折扣是什么，它的研究都为行为分析领域和其他领域提供了各种重要人类问题的强大通用性和预测有效性的测量方法。研究减缓延迟折扣的程度有可能产生巨大的社会效益。
