Principal Investigator: mgr Michał Nowak

 

Funding Agency: National Science Centre
Program: PRELUDIUM
Awarded Sum: 196 192,00 PLN

 

1.Research project objectives

The aim of the project is to investigate the influence of the benefits of foregone tasks on the subjective sensation of cognitive effort and on the level of performance in cognitive control tasks. Inthe case of mosttasksthat require cognitive control, i.e.the ability to regulate and direct our own mental processes, the level of performance deteriorates with time while the subjective sensation of effort intensifies.Thus, we need to ask the question concerning the cause of such deficiency in such an important area. Up until now, the researchers focused on the resource approach, according to which the failures of control result from thegradual depletion of a limited pool of physical resources. An individual is not able to complete a task due to biologicallimitations –the invested resources do not replenish instantaneously.However, this approach was challenged by the results of  empirical  studies  and  new  explanations  were  developed. Currently,  the decision-making  approach is  the most promising one.It suggests, that the basis of cognitive control processes is the calculation of costs and benefits connected with a given activity.These calculations are not associated with physical resources.What matters here is the motivation to engage in a given activity.Researchers enumerate the so-called alternative costs(Kurzban et al.,2013) among the costs which are taken into account in the calculations.They are the inevitable consequence of choosing a given activity –once we decide to do it we abandon all other potentially beneficial routes of action and automatically lose theirbenefits.The aim of the planned studies is to determine whether  the estimated  level  of  the  foregone  benefits intensifiesthe  subjective  sensation  of  effort  and leads to a decrease in performance of cognitive control tasks.

2.Research project methodology

The project will consist of three stages. Two studies will be carried out at each stage:acorrelational study and an experimental study. Each participant will take part in one correlational and one experimental study. In both studies the participants’ task will be to fill in a series of questionnaires and completea set of computer tasks. The  participants  will  also  have  the  opportunity  to familiarize  themselves  with  the  act  of  participating  in  a psychological  studyduring  the  first  correlational  study. Thus, theywill  be  able  to  estimate  the  level  of alternative costs for this type of situation.This is crucial from the perspectiveof the assumptions of Kurzban et al.’s model (2013). The correlational studies will also allow for the measurement of variables which wouldnot  be assessedaccuratelyif they  were  used in the  experimental study.The measurement  of the subjective sensation  of  effortwould  be  especially  sensitive  to  such  interference.In  the  experimental  studies  we  will empirically verifythe hypotheses derived from the alternative costs model (Kurzban et al., 2013), particularly those pertainingto1)  the  influence  of  the  high  level  of  opportunity  costs  on  the  decrease  of  task performance level and 2) theinfluence of the high level of opportunity costson the intensification of the subjective cognitive effort.At each stage we will use well-established computer tasks which engage cognitive control (e.g. Stroop task, n-back task, stop-signal task, go-no go task) and questionnaires measuring e.g. the individual preference for engaging in tasks requiring cognitiveeffort. In order to measure subjective cognitive effort we will use the Subjective Effort Scale.

3.Expected impact of the research project

The results of the studies will provide data which will allow for the comparison ofdecison-making models and resource  models. Currently,  this  is  the  central issue for the  area  of  cognitivecontrol  research.Taking  into account the potential of decision-making models and the resultsofstudieswhich were testing their assumptionsthe  development  of  their  empirical basis  isdefinitely valuable.The  studies  of  cognitive  control  and accompanying cognitive effort are also important forthe optimal performance in work or school environmentand are a significant factor in the development of disorders such asdepression,obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD or addiction. Thus, the results  of the planned studies will help to better understand the mechanisms which determine the individual’s optimal functioningin many areas of life.