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Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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Immediacy Premium: A Linear Estimator of Hyperbolic Delay Discounting Rate (k).

Description
The estimation of delay discounting rates (k) typically assume that the relative subjective value of a reinforcer declines as a reciprocal function of its delay. Despite the prevalence, estimates of k based on least-squares fits of relative subjective value to the hyperbolic discount function appear to have serious limitations. This…

The estimation of delay discounting rates (k) typically assume that the relative subjective value of a reinforcer declines as a reciprocal function of its delay. Despite the prevalence, estimates of k based on least-squares fits of relative subjective value to the hyperbolic discount function appear to have serious limitations. This curve-fitting method provides curves, which when averaged, may not accurately reflect the individual subjects’ data. The present study used the hyperbolic discounting function to derive a new dependent measure, termed immediacy premium, which is a linear function of delay. By averaging linear rather than reciprocal functions, the averaged data are more representative of individual data, and comparisons between mean data across treatments or samples is more meaningful. Based on data published, the assumptions of least-square based estimates were evaluated for estimation methods based on relative subjective value and immediacy premiums. This analysis yielded mixed support for each method, thus advising for the implementation of both methods when drawing inferences on treatment effects and population differences.
ContributorsBerk, Harli (Author) / Federico, Sanabria (Thesis director) / Samuel, McClure (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05