Delay discounting and performance on the prisoner's dilemma game

Participants' rates of delay discounting and percentage of defections on the prisoner's dilemma game were studied in a within-subjects correlation study Thirty-one participants completed a discounting exercise involving choices between immediate and delayed monetary rewards. Each participant then played 40 trials of the prisoner's dilemma game against a computer opponent using a tit-for-tat playing strategy. A one-tailed Pearson's test of correlation revealed a significant positive relationship between the participants' rates of delay discounting and their percentage of defections on the prisoner's dilemma game. These data support the contention that high delay discounting is related to defecting against an opponent playing tit-for-tat on the prisoner's dilemma game.