Data from: Rate maximization and hyperbolic discounting in human experiential intertemporal decision making

Decisions between differently timed outcomes are a well-studied topic in
as diverse academic disciplines as economics, psychology, and behavioral
ecology. Humans and other animals have been shown to make these
intertemporal choices by hyperbolically devaluing rewards as a function of
their delays (‘delay discounting’), thus often deemed to behave
myopically. In behavioral ecology, however, intertemporal choices are
assumed to meet optimization principles, that is, the maximization of
energy or reward rate. Thus far it is unclear how different approaches
assuming these two currencies, reward devaluation and reward rate
maximization, could be reconciled. Here we investigated the degree at
which humans (N = 81) discount reward value and maximize reward rate when
making intertemporal decisions. We found that both hyperbolic discounting
and rate maximization well approximated the choices made in a range of
different intertemporal choice design conditions. Notably, rate
maximization rules provided even better fits to the choice data than
hyperbolic discounting models in all conditions. Interestingly, in
contrast to previous findings, rate maximization was universally observed
in all choice frames, and not confined to foraging settings. Moreover,
rate maximization correlated with the degree of hyperbolic discounting in
all conditions. This finding is in line with the possibility that
evolution has favored hyperbolic discounting because it subserves reward
rate maximization by allowing for flexible adjustment of preference for
smaller, sooner or larger, later rewards. Thus, rate maximization may be a
universal principle that has shaped intertemporal decision making in
general and across a wide range of choice problems.