| The present study compared the effects of delay fading and signals versus delay fading alone on self-controlled choice-making. Children between the ages of three to five years with limited verbal repertoires participated in a series of assessments to determine their level of self-control, or impulsivity, related to choice-making. Next, participants were exposed to one of two treatment conditions: delay fading only (i.e., steadily increasing the delay to reward in 5-s increments) or delay fading plus signal to delay (i.e., a visual and auditory timer, in addition to steadily increasing the delay). All participants were asked to make a series of choices between real outcomes: small, immediate rewards and larger, delayed rewards. Once participants who received the delay fading plus signal condition reached their indifference point (i.e., the point at which participant preference of the LLR switches to the SSR when the delay is increased), DDT was complete. Once participants who received the delay fading only condition no longer selected the LLR in at least 80% of trials across three consecutive sessions, they were exposed to the delay fading plus signal condition. All participants demonstrated an increase in self-control choice-making after exposure to the initial treatment condition, regardless of whether the delay was signaled. The participants who were initially exposed to the delay fading only condition showed a marginal increase in self-control choice-making once the signal to delay condition was implemented. |
