The rate of delay discounting exhibited by individuals has been experimentally altered by manipulating the way in which time is described, a specific application of the framing effect. Previous research suggests that using specific dates to describe delays tends to lower temporal discounting and change the shape of the discounting function. The main purpose of this study was to assess the influence of framing on discounting in different temporal contexts. Participants chose between hypothetical monetary gains (gains group), or between hypothetical monetary losses (losses group). Each group completed eight discounting tasks over two sessions (two choice tasks [SmallNow/SmallSoon] by two time frames [dates/calendar units] by two magnitudes. The results indicate that Mazur's model adequately described the observed discounting functions in most conditions. However, the decrease in discounting rate when both consequences were delayed only occurred when calendar units (but not dates) were used for both gains and losses. These findings suggest that framing affects the influence of a shared delay instead of changing the shape of the discounting function. Our results support the idea that time influences behavior similarly in humans and nonhumans when they choose between two delayed consequences.

中文翻译：

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在不同时间点评估未来：时间框架对贴现的作用

通过操纵描述时间的方式，个体表现出的延迟贴现率已被实验性地改变，这是框架效应的具体应用。先前的研究表明，使用特定日期来描述延迟往往会降低时间贴现并改变贴现函数的形状。本研究的主要目的是评估不同时间背景下框架对贴现的影响。参与者在假设的货币收益（收益组）或假设的货币损失（损失组）之间进行选择。每组在两个会话中完成八项贴现任务（两个选择任务 [SmallNow/SmallSoon]，两个时间范围 [日期/日历单位]，两个量级。结果表明，Mazur 模型充分描述了大多数情况下观察到的贴现函数。但是，只有当日历单位（而不是日期）同时用于损益时，才会出现两种后果均延迟时贴现率下降的情况。这些发现表明，框架会影响共享延迟的影响，而不是改变贴现函数的形状。我们的结果支持这样的观点：当人类和非人类在两种延迟后果之间做出选择时，时间对行为的影响是相似的。