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Effects of Episodic Future Thinking on Delay and Effort Discounting

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Abstract

The discounting of costly rewards is robustly correlated with maladaptive tendencies like substance use, relapse, and poor health habits. Because of this, many laboratory-based interventions have been developed to reduce discounting. Most of these interventions aim to reduce discounting of delayed rewards (delay discounting) but many desirable outcomes in daily life also require effort. The present experiment sought to evaluate the efficacy of episodic future thinking (EFT) to reduce effort discounting. EFT has proven effective in reducing delay discounting, but has not been evaluated as a means of reducing effort discounting. We also evaluated the influence of different types of examples provided to participants during the EFT and control tasks. In a 2x2 between-groups design, participants were randomly assigned to an EFT or control group, combined with one of two example-type conditions. Participants completed the EFT or control tasks, followed by delay- and effort-discounting tasks. As in prior studies, EFT significantly reduced delay discounting, but the effect on effort discounting fell short of significance. Example type did not affect these outcomes.

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Fig. 1
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Data Availability

Data sets and analyses for the current study are available on Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/pzky4/?view_only=0f1d9260476b4d9d9a7a8a1ab2a4fa23.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jillian M. Rung for providing an early version of the delay discounting task used in this study.

Code Availability

Code for data analysis is available at the above link.

Funding

This research was supported in part by a grant from Psi Chi International Honors Society awarded to the first author (S. Peck).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Utah State University, 2810 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84341, USA

    Sara Peck & Gregory J. Madden

Authors
  1. Sara Peck
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  2. Gregory J. Madden
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Contributions

Material preparation, data collection, and data analysis was performed by Sara Peck. All other aspects of the study, from conception to manuscript preparation were performed by both authors, who read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Peck.

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Ethics Approval

This study was approved by Utah State University's Institutional Review Board (protocol #10401).

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All individuals who participated in this study provided informed consent.

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Not applicable.

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Neither of the authors have any real or potential conflict(s) of interest.

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Peck, S., Madden, G.J. Effects of Episodic Future Thinking on Delay and Effort Discounting. Psychol Rec 73, 139–145 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-022-00516-y

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