Animals and humans make decisions based on their expected outcomes. Since relevant outcomes are often delayed, perceiving delays and choosing between earlier vs. later rewards (intertemporal decision-making) is an essential component of animal behavior. The myriad observations made in experiments studying intertemporal decision-making and time perception have not yet been rationalized within a single theory. Here we present a theory—Training-Integrated Maximized Estimation of Reinforcement Rate (TIMERR)—that explains a wide variety of behavioral observations made in intertemporal decision-making and the perception of time. Our theory postulates that animals make intertemporal choices to optimize expected reward rates over a limited temporal window which includes a past integration interval—over which experienced reward rate is estimated—as well as the expected delay to future reward. Using this theory, we derive mathematical expressions for both the subjective value of a delayed reward and the subjective representation of the delay. A unique contribution of our work is in finding that the past integration interval directly determines the steepness of temporal discounting and the non-linearity of time perception. In so doing, our theory provides a single framework to understand both intertemporal decision-making and time perception.
Doubt is subjective uncertainty about one’s perceptions and recall. It can impair decision-making and is a prominent feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We propose that evaluation of doubt during decision-making provides a useful endophenotype with which to study the underlying pathophysiology of OCD and potentially other psychopathologies. For the current study, we developed a new instrument, the Doubt Questionnaire, to clinically assess doubt. The random dot motion task was used to measure reaction time and subjective certainty, at varying levels of perceptual difficulty, in individuals who scored high and low on doubt, and in individuals with and without OCD. We found that doubt scores were significantly higher in OCD cases than controls. Drift diffusion modeling revealed that high doubt scores predicted slower evidence accumulation than did low doubt scores; and OCD diagnosis lower than controls. At higher levels of dot coherence, OCD participants exhibited significantly slower drift rates than did controls (q<0.05 for 30%, and 45% coherence; q<0.01 for 70% coherence). In addition, at higher levels of coherence, high doubt subjects exhibited even slower drift rates and reaction times than low doubt subjects (q<0.01 for 70% coherence). Moreover, under high coherence conditions, individuals with high doubt scores reported lower certainty in their decisions than did those with low doubt scores. We conclude that the Doubt Questionnaire is a useful instrument for measuring doubt. Compared to those with low doubt, those with high doubt accumulate evidence more slowly and report lower certainty when making decisions under conditions of low uncertainty. High doubt may affect the decision-making process in individuals with OCD. The dimensional doubt measure is a useful endophenotype for OCD research and could enable computationally rigorous and neurally valid understanding of decision-making and its pathological expression in OCD and other disorders.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.