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Taking the easy way out? Increasing implementation effort reduces probability maximizing under cognitive load.

Christin Schulze1,2, Ben R Newell3

  • 1School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. cschulze@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.

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High cognitive load can improve decision-making strategies. However, this study shows that increasing the effort to implement a strategy, like probability maximizing, reduces its use in repeated risky choices.

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Area of Science:

  • Decision Science
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Cognitive load can influence strategy selection in repeated risky choice tasks.
  • Optimal probability maximizing is sometimes favored under high cognitive load, contrasting with probability matching.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the beneficial effect of cognitive load on strategy selection depends on the implementation effort of different choice strategies.
  • To examine how manipulating the effort required for probability maximizing impacts its adoption rate.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted, manipulating the implementation effort of probability maximizing.
  • Experiment 1 involved a dual-task condition with simultaneous learning and response.
  • Experiment 2 separated learning and response into distinct stages.

Main Results:

  • Increasing the implementation effort of probability maximizing led to decreased adoption of this strategy.
  • This effect was observed regardless of whether learning and responding occurred simultaneously or were separated.

Conclusions:

  • The effort required to implement a choice strategy is a critical determinant of strategy selection in repeated choice under uncertainty.
  • Implementation effort offers a new perspective on the inconsistent effects of cognitive load previously reported in decision-making research.