Delayed Consequences in General Education through the Lenses of Delay Discounting and Verbal Behavior

Delayed consequences have important academic implications for younger children. Conceptualized within behavior analysis as delay discounting, researchers have examined verbal behavior interventions to improve tolerance to delayed outcomes. In this preliminary study, the correlation between verbal repertoires and tolerance to delayed consequences was further examined. Specifically, the relationship among incidental bidirectional naming (Inc-BiN), delay discounting, and academic achievement in a second-grade general education classroom was studied. Measures included delay discounting measures derived from a hypothetical binary choice task, accurate responses to the Inc-BiN probes using object–name relations as a verbal behavior measure, and standardized assessment percentile for academic achievement measure. The results showed a significant positive correlation between delay discounting measures and the accuracy of Inc-BiN responses. There was no significant correlation between academic achievement and either delay discounting or Inc-BiN. Implications and future research on bridging the concepts of verbal behavior and delay discounting in explaining delayed consequences are discussed.