Toward a formal theory of proactivity

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Humans possess a capacity for goal-directed behavior beyond immediate reactions.
• Individual and situational factors influence the degree of proactivity exhibited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a computational model of proactivity and reactivity.
• To formalize proactivity as meta-control in cognitive tasks.

Main Methods:

• Modeling proactivity within the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT).
• Quantitative model comparison to identify meta-control decision points.
• Experimental validation of the model across varying task parameters (incentives, load, structure).

Main Results:

• Proactivity is regulated by two independent meta-control decisions: intention setting and intention recall.
• Individual differences in proactivity are explained by variations in these two decisions.
• The computational model accurately predicts behavior under diverse experimental conditions.

Conclusions:

• Proactivity can be computationally modeled as meta-control.
• This framework provides a basis for understanding real-world goal pursuit and creation.