Abstract
Delay discounting has been shown to occur across the lifespan. However, how time affects the value of nonmonetary rewards in children has received relatively little attention. This study compared choice of Lego bricks by children using two delay discounting estimation procedures, one experiential and one hypothetical task. The tasks involved a choice between two rewards, a large reward (five Lego bricks) after a delay, and an immediate reward of lesser magnitude. The results suggest that the subjective value of Lego bricks changed across delays, and the loss of value was accurately described by a hyperbolic function, but only on the experiential task, whereas functions resulting from the hypothetical task were nonsystematic in most cases. We discuss two possible explanations, one pertaining the abilities needed to grasp hypothetical situations, and another pertaining operational differences between tasks that may influence choice patterns.