 In such cases, the agent’s discounting of future utility induces a preference reversal with respect to the two possible rewards. When neither reward is imminent, before the discount curves cross, the agent consistently prefers the larger later reward over the smaller earlier reward. But when the opportunity to accept the small reward is sufficiently close, the discounted value of the small reward catches up with and then overtakes the discounted value of the larger later reward. As the discount curves cross, the agent’s preferences reverse and she prefers the small reward over the larger later reward.