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Cognitive effort: A neuroeconomic approach.
Andrew Westbrook1, Todd S Braver
1Department of Psychology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA, jawestbrook@wustl.edu.
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
|February 13, 2015
Summary
This study proposes defining cognitive effort through effort-based decision-making, advocating a neuroeconomics approach. This strategy offers greater insight than traditional methods for understanding cognitive effort.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Cognitive effort is central to understanding behavior and task engagement.
- Existing theories lack a unifying, operational definition of cognitive effort.
- Traditional markers like self-reports and autonomic arousal have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a unifying definition of cognitive effort based on effort-based decision-making.
- To advocate for a neuroeconomics research strategy to study cognitive effort.
- To explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying subjective cognitive effort.
Main Methods:
- Review of psychological and neuroscientific theories of cognitive effort.
- Argument for a neuroeconomics-focused research strategy.
- Outline of future studies utilizing neuroeconomic approaches.
Main Results:
- Effort-based decision-making provides a valuable framework for defining cognitive effort.
- Neuroeconomics offers superior inferential power compared to traditional markers.
- This approach can elucidate the neural basis of subjective cognitive effort.
Conclusions:
- Defining cognitive effort via effort-based decision-making is proposed.
- A neuroeconomics strategy is recommended for advancing research on cognitive effort.
- Future research should leverage neuroeconomics to understand the subjective experience of cognitive effort.
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