Expectations of reward and efficacy guide cognitive control allocation

The amount of mental effort we invest in a task is influenced by the reward we can expect if we perform that task well. However, some of the rewards that have the greatest potential for driving these efforts are partly determined by factors beyond one’s control. In such cases, effort has more limite...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2021-02, Vol.12 (1), p.1030-1030, Article 1030
Main Authors: Frömer, R., Lin, H., Dean Wolf, C. K., Inzlicht, M., Shenhav, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/1662
631/477/2811
Adolescent
Adult
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Control theory
Cues
EEG
Expected values
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Information processing
Male
Motivation - physiology
multidisciplinary
Reinforcement
Reward
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Self Efficacy
Task Performance and Analysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The amount of mental effort we invest in a task is influenced by the reward we can expect if we perform that task well. However, some of the rewards that have the greatest potential for driving these efforts are partly determined by factors beyond one’s control. In such cases, effort has more limited efficacy for obtaining rewards. According to the Expected Value of Control theory, people integrate information about the expected reward and efficacy of task performance to determine the expected value of control, and then adjust their control allocation (i.e., mental effort) accordingly. Here we test this theory’s key behavioral and neural predictions. We show that participants invest more cognitive control when this control is more rewarding and more efficacious, and that these incentive components separately modulate EEG signatures of incentive evaluation and proactive control allocation. Our findings support the prediction that people combine expectations of reward and efficacy to determine how much effort to invest. People only exert cognitive effort if they think the benefits outweigh the costs. Here, the authors show that people assess these benefits by considering expected rewards and how much their effort matters for obtaining those rewards, and then integrating these to determine how much effort to exert.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-21315-z