It's all relative: Reward-induced cognitive control modulation depends on context
1Department of Psychology, McGill University.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|August 14, 2020
Summary
People allocate more cognitive effort to tasks when rewards are perceived as more valuable. This study shows that the perceived value of a reward, and thus the cognitive effort invested, depends on the surrounding reward context.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroeconomics
- Decision science
Background:
- Individuals often avoid expending cognitive effort.
- Reward incentives can enhance cognitive control and performance.
- Subjective reward value is relative to the context.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of reward relativity in cognitive effort allocation.
- To determine if reward context influences the investment of processing resources.
- To test predictions of a computational model of divisive reward normalization.
Main Methods:
- Task-switching paradigm to assess cognitive control.
- Manipulation of reward context (reward-poor vs. reward-rich).
- Computational modeling of divisive reward normalization.
Main Results:
- Reward-induced reductions in switch costs are sensitive to reward context.
- The same reward amount led to greater cognitive control allocation in a reward-poor context compared to a reward-rich context.
- Findings align with the principle of relative value in decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Reward relativity significantly influences cognitive effort allocation.
- Motivated cognitive control is subject to relative value computations.
- This research bridges concepts from economics, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience.
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