Blake is determined to graduate from college with honors. But as he was studying for his final exam the next day, a friend called and invited him to a party. Blake really wanted to go to the party and decided that he would get up early and study for his final exam the next morning before class. Based on what you read in the Psych for Your Life section, why did Blake decide to go to the party?
A)Social interaction was more important to Blake than getting good grades.
B)The value of the short-term reinforcer (going to the party) momentarily outweighed the value of the long-term reinforcer (graduating with honors).
C)Blake understands that self-reinforcement is more effective when applied before the operant.
D)Blake knows that he can rely on latent learning to ace the final exam.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Blake's decision to go to the party shows that he was motivated by the short-term reward of social interaction rather than the long-term reward of graduating with honors, which is consistent with the concept of delay discounting. This concept suggests that individuals' tendency to choose immediate rewards over delayed rewards decreases as the value of the delayed reward increases, but is also influenced by the value of the immediate reward. In this case, the value of the party in the short-term outweighed the value of studying for the final exam in the long-term.

Blake Is Determined to Graduate from College with Honors