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

Bence Neszmélyi1, Roland Pfister2,3

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People avoid effort when choosing actions, preferring compatible action-effect mappings. Decisions are influenced by perceived action-planning costs, not just task performance.

Keywords:
Action controlAction–effect compatibilityCognitive effortDemand avoidanceIdeomotor theory

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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.