Intertemporal Choice Under Gain And Loss Frame And Its Neural Mechanisms

Intertemporal choice refers to the decision-making behavior that weighs the costs and benefits that occur in different periods.Whether the government,the collective or the individual,this decision needs to be made continuously.Decision-making context is an important factor that affects intertemporal choice.Previous studies have shown that there are significant cognitive and neural mechanisms for intertemporal choice in the context of gains and losses.In addition,there are three measurement methods for intertemporal choice of measurement: virtual money measurement,real money measurement,and real delay measurement.In intertemporal choice,due to the choice of too many time points and the rewards are delayed,in the virtual money experiment,it is assumed that the individual receives virtual money after waiting for a period of time,and the individual’s selection is the same as the real selection,With the same ecological attitude.However,when individuals face real waiting and delay,they may show different behavior patterns.Based on previous studies,this research designed three experiments to systematically explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms of intertemporal choice under virtual money and real delay conditions.Study 1 uses the classic Kirby and Myerson questionnaire to explore the individual’s choice characteristics to explore the individual’s choice characteristics in the context of gains and losses under virtual money conditions.Under the real-time conditions,a delay gain or delay time in seconds is used.In the gain scenario,the participant needs to choose between the two options of shorter waiting time but small gains and longer waiting time but high gains;in the loss scenario,the subjects need to choose from two options which wait for a shorter waiting time that are smaller loss and longer waiting time that are higher loss.The results found that:(1)In the gain condition,there is no correlation between the selection ratio or the time discounting rate under the two conditions of virtual money and real delay measurement.In the loss scenario,the selection ratio under the two conditions of virtual money and real delay measurement is no correlated.(2)Those who choose delay gains in the context of gains are more inclined to choose immediate losses in the context of loss,regardless of whether it is a virtual money measurement or a real delayed measurement.(3)Under the conditions of virtual money and real delay,the proportion of choosing immediate loss is significantly less than choosing delay gain,and there may be a sign effect under both conditions.Study 2 uses the classic Zimbardo Time Insight Questionnaire to investigate the relationship between time insight and intertemporal choice in the real delay measurement under the gain and loss conditions.The results found that:(1)In the loss condition,there is no correlation between time insight and the proportion of immediate loss choices.(2)In the income context,the past negative orientation,the present hedonic orientation,the current fate orientation and the time discount rate are significantly negatively correlated,and the delayed gain choice ratio is significantly positively correlated.Multiple linear regression analysis further shows that fate orientation has a significant direct impact on the time discounting rate.Study 3 uses f MRI technology to explore the neural mechanism of the intertemporal choice of true delay measurement in the context of gain and loss.It was found that:(1)In the gain situation,the supplementary motor area,central anterior gyrus,central posterior gyrus,superior frontal gyrus,middle frontal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus,inferior occipital gyrus,insula,cingulate gyrus,and insula were significantly activated.(2)In the loss scenario,supplement the motor area,superior frontal gyrus,central anterior gyrus,medial and lateral cingulate gyrus,medial and lateral cingulate gyrus,central posterior gyrus,inferior occipital gyrus,insula,lenticular putamen,the lenticular putamen,insula,middle frontal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus of triangle,inferior frontal gyrus of insula,middle frontal gyrus,and caudate nucleus were significantly activated.(3)There is no difference in the neural mechanism of intertemporal choice in the context of gains and losses.(4)In the gain condition,compared with the immediate gain choice,the mid-pillow activation is stronger in the delayed gain choice;compared to the delayed income,the immediate income lower back activation is stronger.(5)In the loss situation,there is no difference in the neural mechanism of immediate loss and delayed loss choice.In summary,under the conditions of virtual money and real delay,the cognitive mechanism of intertemporal selection in the gain and loss situation is different,which may be related to the strategies used by the participants in the intertemporal choice.Under the condition of real delay,there is no difference between the gains and losses of intertemporal selection of brain activation.The results of this research are not consistent with the results of previous studies.Therefore,virtual money and real delay intertemporal selection are more in line with the current life decision-making.The process is worthy of in-depth consideration by researchers.