Blake is determined to graduate from college with honors. Butas he was studying for his final exam the next day, a friend called and invited him to a party. Blake really wanted to go tothe party and decided that he would get up early and study forhis final exam the next morning before class. Based on what you read in the Enhancing Well-Being with Psychology section, why did Blake decide to go to the party?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Blake's decision to go to the party can be explained by the fact that the short-term reinforcer of social interaction and enjoyment at the party momentarily outweighed the long-term reinforcer of graduating with honors. This is a common phenomenon known as delay discounting or temporal discounting, where the value of a reward decreases as the delay to receiving it increases. In Blake's case, the reward of graduating with honors is delayed until he completes all his coursework and exams, whereas the reward of going to the party is immediate. Thus, he chose to prioritize the immediate reward over the delayed one.

Blake Is Determined to Graduate from College with Honors