Precrastination and individual differences in working memory capacity

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Precrastination, the tendency to start tasks sooner, can involve more physical effort.
• While often reducing cognitive load, precrastination can sometimes increase it, yet some individuals persist.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) influence the decision to precrastinate when cognitive effort is high.
• To understand the factors driving suboptimal task ordering choices.

Main Methods:

• Participants chose the order of retrieving two water cups at different distances, with varying water levels to manipulate attention demand.
• The frequency of choosing the closer cup first (precrastination) was measured under different cognitive load conditions.

Main Results:

• Avoiding precrastination increased when the closer cup demanded more attention (i.e., was full).
• High WMC individuals were more likely to avoid precrastination when cognitive effort was high, unlike low WMC individuals.
• Individuals who consistently precrastinated reported automatic behavior, not efficiency-based decisions.

Conclusions:

• Working memory capacity plays a role in avoiding costly precrastination under high cognitive demand.
• Precrastination may sometimes be an automatic behavior rather than a strategic choice for efficiency.
• Further research is needed on learning and individual differences in cognitive engagement.