Cigarette Smokers Discount Past and Future Rewards Symmetrically and More than Controls: Is Discounting a Measure of Impulsivity?

摘要

A considerable body of evidence indicates that consideration of the future and past are related. Future discounting studies indicate that cigarette smokers discount future outcomes more than nonsmokers. The purpose of the present study was to determine if a similar profile of results could be obtained with a novel procedure evaluating the discounting of past outcomes, providing further support for future/past symmetry. Thirty cigarette smokers and twenty-nine nonsmokers participated in a computerized assessment of discounting of hypothetical future and past outcomes. Symmetry was supported, with a similar profile of results in future and past discounting procedures. These included: hyperbolic discounting, greater discounting of small-magnitude outcomes than large-magnitude outcomes, and greater discounting by cigarette smokers relative to nonsmokers.