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Harder than Expected: Increased Conflict in Clearly Disadvantageous Delayed Choices in a Computer Game

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  • Stefan Scherbaum
  • Maja Dshemuchadse
  • Susanne Leiberg
  • Thomas Goschke

Abstract

When choosing between immediate and temporally delayed goods, people sometimes decide disadvantageously. Here, we aim to provide process-level insight into differences between individually determined advantageous and disadvantageous choices. Participants played a computer game, deciding between two different rewards of varying size and distance by moving an agent towards the chosen reward. We calculated individual models of advantageous choices and characterized the decision process by analyzing mouse movements. The larger amount of participants’ choices was classified as advantageous and the disadvantageous choices were biased towards choosing sooner/smaller rewards. The deflection of mouse movements indicated more conflict in disadvantageous choices compared with advantageous choices when the utilities of the options differed clearly. Further process oriented analysis revealed that disadvantageous choices were biased by a tendency for choice-repetition and an undervaluation of the value information in favour of the delay information, making rather simple choices harder than could be expected from the properties of the decision situation.

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  • Stefan Scherbaum & Maja Dshemuchadse & Susanne Leiberg & Thomas Goschke, 2013. "Harder than Expected: Increased Conflict in Clearly Disadvantageous Delayed Choices in a Computer Game," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-7, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0079310
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079310
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    1. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:5:p:472-495 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Stefan Scherbaum & Simon Frisch & Susanne Leiberg & Steven J. Lade & Thomas Goschke & Maja Dshemuchadse, 2016. "Process dynamics in delay discounting decisions: An attractor dynamics approach," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(5), pages 472-495, September.
    3. Diana Schwenke & Maja Dshemuchadse & Cordula Vesper & Martin Georg Bleichner & Stefan Scherbaum, 2017. "Let’s decide together: Differences between individual and joint delay discounting," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, April.

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