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Ignoring or discounting delayed future rewards (i.e., “delay discounting”) is a central characteristic of risk takers and impulsive people who prefer a smaller immediate reward to a later, more substantial one. This study of 27 patients receiving treatment for stimulant misuse examined whether exercises designed to enhance memory of past events would decrease delay discounting.
All patients underwent a training program for working memory (e.g., forward and reverse digit recall) and were randomized to receive monetary reinforcement based on individual performance (active group) or based on the performance of a member of the active group (control group). Before and after training, the participants were tested on frontal behavior (e.g., disinhi…