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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Implementation of a Reference Interferometer for Nanodetection
Published on: April 26, 2014
Personal bests as reference points.
Ashton Anderson1,2, Etan A Green2,3
1Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G8; ashton@cs.toronto.edu.
Chess players strive for personal best ratings, increasing effort to achieve them. Once a new personal best is reached, players reduce effort, motivated by loss aversion.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Sports Psychology
Background:
- Personal bests serve as crucial benchmarks for performance evaluation.
- Specific and challenging goals typically enhance motivation more than general ones.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of personal bests on player motivation and effort in chess.
- To explore whether achieving a personal best leads to a decrease in subsequent effort.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 133 million chess game records.
- Examination of player rating changes and effort levels in relation to personal bests.
Main Results:
- Players significantly increase effort to achieve new personal best ratings.
- Effort demonstrably decreases immediately after a new personal best is attained.
- This pattern aligns with motivation predicted by loss aversion principles.
Conclusions:
- Personal bests function as powerful, specific goals that drive effort.
- The achievement of a personal best can paradoxically lead to reduced motivation and effort, consistent with loss aversion theory.

