Cognitive effort and impulsivity

Abstract

Factors unrelated to skill are known to contribute to cognitive performance (Revelle, 1993). Specifically, cognitive effort during performance is required for success at many important tasks. Disengagement of effort during cognitive tasks may relate to impulsivity, as self-control may be needed to stay on task and persist in the face of difficulty (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001). Impulsivity is a broad construct, and Lack of Perseverance is a component most clearly aligned with effort disengagement during task performance. However, it is unknown whether cognitive effort disengagement is related to trait-level Lack of Perseverance, or to other components of impulsivity. We tested these associations in two samples using the Cognitive Effort and DisEngagement task, or CEDE, which includes the option to skip trials without penalty, indexing effort disengagement (Fortgang et al., 2020). We found in both samples that skipped trials on the CEDE significantly correlated with self-reported trait level Lack of Perseverance, but not with other, theoretically unrelated aspects of self-reported or task-based impulsivity. Lack of Perseverance – a component of impulsivity – may contribute to disengagement of cognitive effort during task performance. This has implications for cognitive testing and measurement, as well as for our understanding of impulsivity and cognitive effort.