Discounting of Delayed and Probabilistic Rewards in Gambling and Non-Gambling College Students.

Abstract

Holt, Green, & Myerson (2003) found college-aged gamblers and non-gamblers to be indistinguishable in terms of delay discounting. This suggests that, with positive outcomes, gamblers and non-gamblers are similar in terms of ability to delay gratification. Holt et al. also found that gamblers discount probabilistic rewards less steeply than non-gamblers. These findings indicate that, with positive outcomes, gamblers are more willing to take risk than non-gamblers. The present study extends the discounting research with gamblers to include losses as an outcome.