Much of our health and fitness behavior is all about choice. Delay discounting is an important behavioral principle that tells us how our choices are affected by certain outcomes.
We may be more “impulsive” and choose the immediate reinforcers (drugs, booze, donuts) because we can have them NOW.
Choosing other reinforcers with delayed consequences (improved heart health) that may occur down the line.
The chart above is the mathematical representation of this principle. The “bad stuff” falls on the red line, while the “good stuff” falls on the green line.
IMPULSIVITY = choosing items or activities that produce immediate outcomes over the ones later. When it comes to fitness, think about how many variables come in to play when you have to go to the gym, take your medicine, or visit the doctor when that goodie is sitting right on the countertop…or in your hand!
Reference
McClure, J., Podos, J., & Richardson, H. N. (2014). Isolating the delay component of impulsive choice in adolescent rats. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 8, 3.
