Does decision confidence reflect effort?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Decision Science
• Human Motor Control

Background:

• Goal-directed behavior involves transforming sensory input into decisions and actions.
• While sensory accumulation in decision-making is well-studied, the influence of action parameters on decisions is less understood.
• Emerging research suggests a reciprocal interaction between action and decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if physical effort during the decision deliberation period, rather than effort post-decision, influences perceptual decision-making.
• To test the hypothesis that increased incidental physical effort decreases metacognitive accuracy without affecting decision accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed a random-dot motion direction judgment task.
• A robotic manipulandum applied opposing force, requiring participants to exert physical effort during evidence accumulation.
• Effort investment was orthogonal to task success, serving as incidental exertion.

Main Results:

• No evidence was found that incidental physical effort impacts the decision process.
• Decision accuracy remained unaffected by the exerted physical effort.
• Decision confidence was not influenced by the incidental effort during deliberation.

Conclusions:

• Incidental physical effort during the deliberation phase of a perceptual decision does not appear to modulate decision accuracy or confidence.
• Further research is needed to explore the complex interplay between action parameters and decision-making processes.