Rung, J. M. & Madden, G. J. (2018). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(9), 1349–1381. doi:10.1037/xge0000462. PMC6112163.
Key takeaways
- Delay discounting can be reduced by many environmental manipulations, with effect sizes that differ widely by kind.
- Learning-based approaches gave the most reliable and largest reductions (B = 0.62, z = 7.43). Reward bundling, the subcategory the record’s will-organization line cares about, reduced impulsive choice in humans and rats (z = 4.57).
- Clinical interventions gave small reductions (B = 0.23). Mindfulness and ACT were not significant overall (g = 0.32, z = 1.89, p = .059), from two studies.
- Mediation is almost never tested, so the processes by which any manipulation lowers discounting are open.
Why this is here
CLAIM-156 says mindfulness integrates competing interests without needing to change the discount curves. Its defeat condition is that the effect is fully mediated by measured discounting. This review gathers the experimental literature on changing discounting, including the mindfulness studies published before 2016.