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Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?

A Ross Otto1, Andrew Westbrook2, Jean Daunizeau3

  • 1Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People avoid mentally demanding tasks because cognitive effort feels costly. This review explores information-theoretic, psychological, and biological theories explaining the subjective experience of cognitive effort and its costs.

Keywords:
N-back taskbottleneckscognitive controlcognitive effortcostsflexibilityinformation theorynetwork control theorystability

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Individuals often avoid tasks requiring significant mental effort.
  • Economic models explain effort preferences as costly, but lack clarity on cost origins.
  • Understanding the subjective experience of cognitive effort is crucial for explaining behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review theoretical treatments of cognitive effort costs.
  • To explore diverse perspectives (information-theoretic, psychological, biological) on effort cost.
  • To examine how these theories explain the perceived costliness of high working memory tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of theoretical frameworks for cognitive effort.
  • Analysis of information-theoretic, psychological, and biological perspectives.
  • Examination of predictions regarding working memory load and perceived effort.

Main Results:

  • Multiple theoretical accounts exist for the subjective experience of cognitive effort.
  • These perspectives offer different explanations for why effortful tasks feel costly.
  • Working memory demands are consistently linked to higher perceived effort costs across theories.

Conclusions:

  • The subjective experience of cognitive effort is multifaceted, with no single unifying theory.
  • Bridging information-theoretic, psychological, and biological accounts is necessary for a comprehensive understanding.
  • Further research should address open questions to integrate these diverse perspectives on effort costs.