Development and individual differences in intertemporal choice

This project investigates the mechanisms underlying developmental and individual differences in intertemporal choices (Iris Ikink, Karin Roelofs, Bernd Figner). More specifically, we study how farsightedness in intertemporal choice develops across adolescence and adulthood and which underlying psychological and neural mechanisms contribute to the changes observed in behavior. In particular, we are interested in the role of hormones such as testosterone, whether waiting for a delayed outcome is more aversive to adolescents than adults, and/or whether there are differences in reward sensitivity, and how individuals of different age groups deal with time ambiguity, i.e., when they do not know exactly when they would receive the chosen option.