| Intertemporal choice refers to the decisions that involve tradeoffs among outcomes at different points of time(Loewenstein,1988).For example,would you prefer to receive $10 today or $15 in a week? Choose to spend happily now or save for the future? These are the intertemporal choices we faced in our daily lives.Adam Smith famously observed that intertemporal choices have significant implications for our physical and mental health,overall well-being,and even a country’s economic prosperity(Crews & Boettiger,2009;Gathergood,2012;Graziano et al.,2010).Research by Preis(2012)suggests that countries with a focus on the future tend to have higher per capita GDP and better economic development prospects.Therefore,understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying intertemporal choice is both scientifically valuable and practically significant.When individuals are faced with intertemporal choices,they often exhibit time discounting,where immediate rewards are valued more highly than delayed rewards(Ainslie,2001).This can lead to individuals choosing immediate smaller rewards over larger delayed rewards.To address this tendency and promote more "future-sighted" decision-making,researchers have explored intertemporal choice plasticity,with some proposing the "Hidden zero" effect(Magen,2008).This effect suggests that presenting intertemporal choices in an explicit-zero format(e.g.,$10 today and $0in 7 days vs.$0 today and $15 in 7 days)can lead individuals to choose the delayed option more often than when presented in a hidden-zero format(e.g.,$10 today vs.$15 in 7 days).Recent research has highlighted the positive role of attention allocation in predicting individual choice(Krajbich et al.,2010;Shimojo et al.,2003),but the cognitive mechanisms underlying the "Hidden zero" effect from an attentional perspective remain unexplored.Thus,this study aims to investigate this effect through two main problems.Firstly,using eye-tracking and a subjective value task,we will compare attention allocation characteristics between the explicit-zero and hidden-zero frames and explore the cognitive mechanisms of the "Hidden zero" effect(Study 1).Secondly,we will manipulate attention allocation in the tradeoff using a shadow cue in the explicit-zero frame to further investigate the mechanism of attention allocation in the "Hidden zero" effect(Study 2).In summary,this study will provide insights into the cognitive mechanisms of the "Hidden zero" effect in intertemporal choice through an attentional allocation perspective,both in terms of recording association(Study 1)and causal manipulation(Study 2).Study 1 used an eye-tracking technique to investigate individual’s attention allocation to different trade-off processes in the explicit-zero frame,and together with a subjective value task,the cognitive mechanisms of the “Hidden zero” effect were explored.The duration of attention to the content of the option was used as an indicator of attention allocation,and the percentage of individuals choosing the delayed option was used as the indicator of intertemporal choice.The Visual Analog Scale(VAS)was used to measure the subjective value of the option.This experiment used a between-subjects design with 40 participants in the explicit-zero condition and 39 participants in the hidden-zero condition.The results showed that(1)when compared with the hidden-zero frame,the duration of attention to choice content,including the present gains,zero present gain and zero future gain,increased significantly when the choice pairs were presented with the explicit-zero frame;(2)in the explicitzero frame,the duration of attention to the trade-off between the present gains and zero future gain increased significantly when compared with the trade-off between the present gains and zero present gain;(3)compared with the hidden-zero frame,the subjective value of the immediate option in the explicit-zero frame was significantly reduced,while the proportion of the delayed option was significantly increased.These results suggest that the explicit-zero frame may change subjective valuation of options by influencing the allocation of attention to each option in the trade-off process,thus biasing individuals’ choices.In Study 2,a within-subjects experimental design with 36 participants was used to explore the cognitive mechanisms of the “Hidden zero” effect from a causal perspective by manipulating individuals’ attention allocation to different trade-off processes through shaded cues in the explicitzero frame.The results indicate that:(1)shading cues can effectively manipulate individuals’ attention allocation to different tradeoff processes;(2)when the attention allocation was manipulated to enhance the trade-off between the present gain and zero present gain,individuals were more concerned about the zero present gain-the potential loss contained in the delayed option-and thus tended to choose the immediate option;(3)When the attention allocation was manipulated to enhance the trade-off between the future gains and zero future gain,individuals were more concerned about the zero future gain-the potential loss in the future contained in the immediate option-and thus preferred the delayed option.Study 2 provides further evidence for the importance of attention allocation in the “Hidden zero” effect from a causal perspective through the attention allocation manipulation.Taken together,this study has found that the "Hidden zero" effect is driven by attention allocation in the explicit-zero presentation frame.Specifically,the trade-off between the present gains and zero future gain attracted more attention,reducing the subjective value of the immediate option and leading participants to prefer the delayed option.Furthermore,shaded cues in the explicit-zero format can directly affect individual’s choices by manipulating their attention allocation to different content.When attention is directed to the trade-off between the present gains and zero present gain,participants tend to choose the immediate option,while attention to the trade-off between the future gains and zero future gain leads to a preference for the delayed option.In conclusion,this study provides valuable insights into the cognitive mechanisms of intertemporal choice and highlights the importance of attention allocation in decision-making.It also suggests that attention can be manipulated to facilitate future-sighted choices.Future research could further investigate the role of attention in intertemporal choice and consider it as an additional influencing factor.Overall,this study contributes to the development of a theoretical basis for intertemporal choice. |
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