Fig. 3

Sketch of the experimental screen and procedure. (A) Each trial started with the presentation of the avatar and the two decision options. The cursor was locked in the centre of the screen. The current score that the participants had already collected was shown in the top/left and the bottom/right corner of the playing area. (B) To select an option, participants navigated the cursor into the colour-coded response box in the upper right/ lower left corner of the playing area. (C) After reaching a target box, the avatar started to move along a conjunction line from the centre of the screen to the place where the chosen option was presented. While the avatar was moving, a limited amount of time was counted down (demonstrated by reducing the length of the grey crossed lines in the background). Due to the greater distance to the avatar, more time was required to collect the later/larger reward