Impulsivity, Self-Control, and Delay Discounting in Persons with Acquired Brain Injury
Abstract
The present paper describes two studies in which participants with and without acquired brain injuries were compared on a temporal discounting task involving various hypothetical amounts of money available at varying delay values. During Experiment 1, both groups of participants were presented with choices between amounts of money ranging from 1 to 1000 US dollars at delays from 1 week to 10 years. The results obtained from this procedure were consistent with previous models of temporal delay discounting for control group participants, yet not for the majority of the participants with acquired brain injuries. During Experiment 2, adjustments in hypothetical amounts and delays were made whereby the amounts of money ranged from 1 to 20 US dollars at delays from 1 day to 1 year. These manipulations yielded data generally consistent with temporal delay discounting models previously reported in the published literature. The utility of using delay discounting procedures as a means of assessing impulsivity in persons with acquired brain injuries is presented.
Suggested Citation
Mark R. Dixon, Eric A. Jacobs, Scott Sanders, John M. Guercio, James L. Soldner, Susan Parker-Singler, Ashton Robinson, Stacey L. Small, and Jeffrey Dillen. "Impulsivity, Self-Control, and Delay Discounting in Persons with Acquired Brain Injury" Behavioral Interventions 20 (2005): 101-120.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/james_soldner/8