Investigating the relationship between smartphone use and delay discounting | Hacker News Reader

Investigating the relationship between smartphone use and delay discounting

journals.plos.org

In case the term 'delay discounting' is not familiar:

> We found that smartphone screen time was correlated with choosing smaller immediate over larger delayed rewards and that usage of social media and gaming apps predicted delay discounting.

Found this explanation of 'delay discounting' quite good:

  The phenomenon scientists call delay discounting can tell a lot about 
  a persons ability to set and attain goals. Some people are more likely 
  to prefer smaller but immediate rewards rather than larger but delayed 
  rewards. The tendency to prefer immediate rewards, even if they are 
  smaller, has been linked to impulsive behavior, which is connected to 
  problems such as substance abuse and addiction.

https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/podcast/delay-discounting/

Akrasia is a related concept. Enjoyed this blog post on the topic: https://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia/

Thanks for sharing. That was a good read.

Isn't the standard term delayed gratification? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_gratification#:~:tex....

I think delay discounting refers more generally to the process of weighting a reward now versus a reward later (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_discounting), whereas delayed gratification refers specifically to opting for the latter.

I strongly believe one day smartphones will have the same warning labels on them as cigarettes do.

I feel exactly the same way for candy bars and orange juice, but it’s hard to shake the million stares thinking I’m insane.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com