Rung Jillian M, Madden Gregory J
Department of Psychology, Utah State University.
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2018 Feb;26(1):77-84. doi: 10.1037/pha0000171. Epub 2018 Jan 11.
Steep delay discounting, or rapid devaluation of future outcomes, is one mechanism that can account for the chronic selection of smaller-sooner over larger-later outcomes; that is, impulsive choice. Because steep delay discounting is correlated with maladaptive behavior, researchers have explored methods for reducing discounting. One empirically supported method is episodic future thinking (EFT), or vividly imagining one's future before completing the discounting task. However, EFT procedures may include demand characteristics, which could account for some its beneficial effects. In two experiments, demand characteristics were evaluated by having participants read a description of the interactions between a fictional experimenter and a human subject in a typical EFT study. When subsequently asked to indicate what the fictional experimenter expected the human subject to do after the EFT exercise, participants correctly deduced the experimenter's hypotheses: that EFT would reduce impulsive choice (Experiment 1A) and consumption of junk food (Experiment 1B). Future research should evaluate and control for the possibility that demand characteristics are at least partially responsible for the beneficial effects of EFT. (PsycINFO Database Record
陡峭的延迟折扣，即对未来结果的快速贬值，是一种可以解释长期选择小而即时的结果而非大而延迟的结果的机制；也就是说，冲动选择。由于陡峭的延迟折扣与适应不良行为相关，研究人员探索了减少折扣的方法。一种得到实证支持的方法是情景未来思维（EFT），即在完成折扣任务之前生动地想象自己的未来。然而，EFT程序可能包括需求特征，这可能解释了它的一些有益效果。在两项实验中，通过让参与者阅读一篇关于典型EFT研究中虚构实验者与人类受试者之间互动的描述来评估需求特征。当随后被要求指出虚构实验者期望人类受试者在EFT练习后做什么时，参与者正确地推断出了实验者的假设：即EFT会减少冲动选择（实验1A）和垃圾食品的消费（实验1B）。未来的研究应该评估并控制需求特征至少部分导致EFT有益效果的可能性。（PsycINFO数据库记录）
