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Motivated for near impossibility: How task type and reward modulate task enjoyment and the striatal activation for
Michiko Sakaki1,2,3, Stefanie Meliss4, Kou Murayama5,4,6
1Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, 72072, Tübingen, Germany. michiko.sakaki@uni-tuebingen.de.
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
|November 30, 2022
Summary
Humans are intrinsically motivated by extremely challenging, skill-based tasks, even with near-zero success probability. This challenge-based motivation disappears with extrinsic rewards, highlighting the importance of intrinsic drive.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Decision-making
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Economic theories suggest disengagement from tasks with low success probability.
- Human behavior often shows motivation for highly challenging tasks without external incentives.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the nature of challenge-based motivation.
- Identify the neural correlates of this intrinsic motivation.
Main Methods:
- Participants engaged in a skill-based task with varying probabilities of success.
- Task enjoyment and neural activity (ventral striatum/pallidum) were measured.
- Conditions included no extrinsic rewards, fixed rewards, and probabilistic rewards.
Main Results:
- Task enjoyment increased as success probability decreased in skill-based tasks without extrinsic incentives.
- This challenge-based motivation was absent when rewards were present or probabilistic.
- Ventral striatum/pallidum activation correlated with task enjoyment patterns.
Conclusions:
- Intrinsic motivation drives engagement with nearly impossible, skill-based tasks when extrinsic rewards are absent.
- The findings challenge traditional economic utility models in specific contexts.
- Neural evidence supports the role of the ventral striatum in challenge-based motivation.
