Abstract
In the current paper, we articulate a theory to explain the phenomenology of mental effort. The theory provides a working definition of mental effort, explains in what sense mental effort is a limited resource, and specifies the factors that determine whether or not mental effort is experienced as aversive. The core of our theory is the conjecture that the sense of effort is the output of a cost-benefit analysis. This cost-benefit analysis employs heuristics to weigh the current and anticipated costs of mental effort for a particular activity against the anticipated benefits. This provides a basis for spelling out testable predictions to structure future research on the phenomenology of mental effort.
Highlights
The experience of mental effort is a familiar feature of daily life
One explanatory strategy is to identify mental effort with a functional role. This is the strategy adopted by Inzlicht et al (2018): they identify mental effort with ‘... the process that mediates between how well an organism can potentially perform on some task and how well they perform on that task’ (338)
There is a broad consensus around the idea to equate the exertion of mental effort with the exercise of cognitive control (Shenhav et al 2017; Inzlicht et al 2014)
Summary
The experience of mental effort is a familiar feature of daily life. Driving a car, solving basic math problems, or compiling a grocery list – everyday activities such as these demand sustained attention and self-control to resist distractions and tempting alternatives. Given the centrality of mental effort in everyday life and as a key parameter in experimental research in the cognitive sciences, it is no surprise that there has been a wealth of theoretical and empirical research investigating mental effort in recent decades. We begin (Section 2) with a review of current theoretical and empirical research investigating mental effort in general, focusing in particular on the three key questions identified above.
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