Browsing by Author "Downey, Haylee"
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- COVID-19-Related Financial Scarcity is Associated with Greater Delay Discounting But Not Probability DiscountingDowney, Haylee; Freitas-Lemos, Roberta; Curran, Kelsey M.; Serrano, Elena L.; Davis, George C.; Stein, Jeffrey S. (2023-01-01)Prior laboratory studies suggest that scarcity increases delay discounting (devaluation of delayed outcomes) and disturbs other decision-making processes. Recent evidence on the effect of COVID-19 on delay discounting is mixed. In addition, no study has examined the effect of COVID-19-related scarcity on probability discounting (devaluation of probabilistic outcomes). The present study examined cross-sectional associations between COVID-19-related scarcity, delay discounting, and probability discounting. During April 2020, 1012 participants with low income were recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and completed measures of delay and probability discounting of money and food (grocery gift card), COVID-19-related financial impacts, stress, and food security. Regression analyses indicate that compared to those with no COVID-19 related financial impacts, those with severe COVID-19 related financial impacts had greater delay discounting of money and greater delay discounting of food. In addition, greater food insecurity in the past month was associated with greater delay discounting of food but not money. COVID-19 related financial impact was not associated with probability discounting of money or probability discounting of food. Combined with laboratory experiments, the present study provides additional support for the idea that scarcity or income shock may increase delay discounting, particularly during the onset of COVID-19.
- Deprivation Has Inconsistent Effects on Delay Discounting: A ReviewDowney, Haylee; Haynes, Jeremy M.; Johnson, Hannah M.; Odum, Amy L. (Frontiers, 2022-02-10)Delay discounting, the tendency for outcomes to be devalued as they are more temporally remote, has implications as a target for behavioral interventions. Because of these implications, it is important to understand how different states individuals may face, such as deprivation, influence the degree of delay discounting. Both dual systems models and state-trait views of delay discounting assume that deprivation may result in steeper delay discounting. Despite early inconsistencies and mixed results, researchers have sometimes asserted that deprivation increases delay discounting, with few qualifications. The aim of this review was to determine what empirical effect, if any, deprivation has on delay discounting. We considered many kinds of deprivation, such as deprivation from sleep, drugs, and food in humans and non-human animals. For 23 studies, we analyzed the effect of deprivation on delay discounting by computing effect sizes for the difference between delay discounting in a control, or baseline, condition and delay discounting in a deprived state. We discuss these 23 studies and other relevant studies found in our search in a narrative review. Overall, we found mixed effects of deprivation on delay discounting. The effect may depend on what type of deprivation participants faced. Effect sizes for deprivation types ranged from small for sleep deprivation (Hedge's gs between −0.21 and 0.07) to large for opiate deprivation (Hedge's gs between 0.42 and 1.72). We discuss possible reasons why the effect of deprivation on delay discounting may depend on deprivation type, including the use of imagined manipulations and deprivation intensity. The inconsistency in results across studies, even when comparing within the same type of deprivation, indicates that more experiments are needed to reach a consensus on the effects of deprivation on delay discounting. A basic understanding of how states affect delay discounting may inform translational efforts.