Open AccessDecomposing the Motivation to Exert Mental Effort
Author(s) -
Amitai Shenhav,
Mahalia Prater Fahey,
Ivan Grahek
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current directions in psychological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.638
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1467-8721
pISSN - 0963-7214
DOI - 10.1177/09637214211009510
Subject(s) - task (project management) , psychology , process (computing) , control (management) , cognition , cognitive psychology , value (mathematics) , computer science , artificial intelligence , machine learning , management , neuroscience , economics , operating system
Achieving most goals demands cognitive control, yet people vary widely in their success at meeting these demands. While motivation is known to be fundamental to determining these successes, what determines one's motivation to perform a given task remains poorly understood. Here, we describe recent efforts towards addressing this question using the Expected Value of Control model, which simulates the process by which people weigh the costs and benefits of exerting mental effort. By functionally decomposing this cost-benefit analysis, this model has been used to fill gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms of mental effort and to generate novel predictions about the sources of variability in real-world performance. We discuss the opportunities the model provides for formalizing hypotheses about why people vary in their motivation to perform tasks, as well as for understanding limitations in our ability to test these hypotheses based on a given measure of performance.