Semantic fluency is associated with reduced temporal discounting

Abstract

People vary in their temporal discounting, the tendency to prefer smaller, sooner rewards over larger, later rewards. Higher temporal discounting (i.e., more impatience) is associated with detrimental behaviors, such as substance abuse and physical inactivity. Therefore, understanding the cognitive capacities underlying individual differences in temporal discounting is important. Previous research has suggested that episodic memory supports future-oriented decision making by facilitating prospection, but an association between episodic memory abilities and temporal discounting has not yet been established in a cognitively normal population. One potential reason for this lack of an association is that semantic memory, not episodic memory, underlies reduced temporal discounting. After all, semantic memory provides the conceptual “scaffolding” for imagining the future. Here we tested the hypothesis that semantic memory is negatively associated with temporal discounting in an online study of 203 adults. We assessed semantic memory function in two ways: a semantic fluency task and a Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory recognition task. The semantic fluency task measures voluntary semantic memory retrieval, while the false memory paradigm assesses the extent to which semantic information biases episodic retrieval. We found that better semantic fluency was associated with reduced temporal discounting, even after controlling for letter fluency, age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status. However, false memory rate was not a significant predictor of temporal discounting. These findings provide novel evidence that semantic memory retrieval abilities may support future-oriented decisions.