Cognitive predictors of delay discounting in monetary choices

Abstract

Delay discounting, the tendency to choose a smaller-sooner reward over a larger-later reward, has been conceptualized either as a personal preference or as a rational thinking component. In this study (N = 397), the associations between monetary delay discounting - constructed as a rational thinking task - and cognitive individual difference measures were examined. Participants with higher general cognitive ability, cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning, and objective numeracy had a weaker tendency to discount delayed rewards, the opposite was true for those with higher intuitive thinking disposition and bias susceptibility. Bias susceptibility predicted delay discounting over and above all other cognitive predictors. The results partially support the assumption about a common basis of delay discounting and susceptibility to cognitive biases (as a rational thinking indicator). Because of the relatively low explained variance in delay discounting by cognitive variables, however, ample room is left for other potential predictors in the monetary delay discounting tasks.