Cognitive load enhances patience rather than impulsivity.

Abstract

Previous studies on the impact of cognitive load on time preference has led to conflicting results. However, these studies either failed to consider response randomness while analyzing behavioral data or involved a defective control level for a clear conclusion regarding the impacts of cognitive load. With two experiments using an adaptive approach to generating appropriate individual-specific stimuli and an additional, preregistered partial replication study, the current research provided consistent evidence that imposing cognitive load with a 2-back auditory memory task would produce simultaneously more patient and more random intertemporal choices. The finding of changed time preference was at odds with the dual-process account thereof but provided clear support for the role of reduced time sensitivity in intertemporal choices under cognitive load. Results of relevant model comparison did not support an account built upon more usage of heuristic strategies under cognitive load, either. Future research could examine boundary conditions for the dual-process and time-sensitivity accounts of time preference such as task features and individual characteristics that moderate the impact of cognitive load on time preference.