A Statistical Assessment of the Role of Gender in Modulating Episodic Prospection

Abstract

The study sought to assess whether gender contributes towards how prospection modulates delay discounting. The relevant data for the study was generated by means of three sets of behavioral experiments; where by equal number of males and females under took inter-temporal tasks involving choosing between instant though smaller reward and deferred yet larger reward, while imaging positive, negative, and neural episodes respectively. In order to test the various hypotheses related to the study, a paired samples T-test and binomial regression analyses were run on the data from each experiment. It was revealed that men have the tendency to go for immediate but smaller rewards while women prefers larger rewards, when future positive episodes were imaged, and that when negative future events are imaged,both males and females tend to prefer delayed but larger reward to immediate but lower rewards.However, they both are inclined to choose immediate but smaller rewards to later larger reward when neutral events are imaged. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, the binomial regression analysis revealed that gender was not a contributing factor in the respondents’ choices whatsoever. Rather, the religious persuasions of the respondents were a contributing factor in how prospection modulates delay discounting: the Christian subjects were largely inclined towards immediate rewards than the Muslims were.