Action control costs in task selection: Agents avoid actions with incompatible movement and effect features

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Motor Control

Background:

• Action control involves costs when movement features conflict with intended effects.
• The principle of least effort guides action selection and initiation.
• Understanding these costs is crucial for designing intuitive interfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if action control costs influence action choices based on the principle of least effort.
• To determine if participants prefer compatible action-effect mappings to minimize effort.
• To explore the basis of effort-related decision-making in action selection.

Main Methods:

• A reaction-time experiment using mouse swipes in response to directional cues.
• Participants chose between two action options with compatible or incompatible action-effect mappings.
• Measured choice tendencies and compared them with actual action-initiation costs.

Main Results:

• Incompatible action-effect mappings incurred significant action control costs.
• Participants showed a preference for compatible choices, indicating effort avoidance.
• Choice tendencies were not solely predicted by actual increases in action-initiation costs.

Conclusions:

• Action control costs influence action choices, aligning with the principle of least effort.
• Effort-related decisions incorporate pre-established notions of action-planning costs, beyond immediate performance monitoring.
• Findings have implications for user interface design and understanding cognitive effort in decision-making.