Task Effort Research Articles

Measuring stereotypes in effort tasks: A multiple-price list approach

We apply a multiple-price list approach to the measurement of discrimination in an effort task: we elicit willingness to have an ethnic minority member in a team. We use an example of the Roma in the Czech Republic and test the measure on a sample of 100 students from the majority population. We also discuss the role of statistical discrimination, taste-based discrimination, and the contact hypothesis. Our results show small but significant mistreatment of the Roma. The choice to (not) have a Roma person in a team seems to be driven by tastes, while the role of statistical discrimination is rather limited.

Automation Enables Specialization: Field Evidence

Becker and Murphy proposed that task specialization raises productivity but is limited by the costs of coordinating workers. We propose that automation enables workers to specialize without coordination costs. To the extent that the cost of effort exhibits increasing differences, workers increase effort in nonautomated tasks and productivity. The proposition is supported by a field experiment among supermarket cashiers. Conventionally, supermarket cashiers perform two tasks: scanning purchases and collecting payment. Cashiers exhibited increasing differences in the cost of effort: when they scanned faster, they took longer to collect payments. We rotated cashiers between the conventional job design and one in which they specialized in scanning. The new job design increased cashier productivity in scanning by more than 10%. The faster scanning was not due to customer sorting or cashier learning. The proposition is also validated by a survey of taxi drivers. Drivers who reported that difficulties in finding their way affected their driving were more likely to use map apps. This paper was accepted by Alfonso Gambardella, business strategy. Funding: This work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education [MOE2016-SSRTG-059]. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4760 .

More than a feeling: physiological measures of affect index the integration of effort costs and rewards during anticipatory effort evaluation.

The notion that humans avoid effortful action is one of the oldest and most persistent in psychology. Influential theories of effort propose that effort valuations are made according to a cost-benefit trade-off: we tend to invest mental effort only when the benefits outweigh the costs. While these models provide a useful conceptual framework, the affective components of effort valuation remain poorly understood. Here, we examined whether primitive components of affective response-positive and negative valence, captured via facial electromyography (fEMG)-can be used to better understand valuations of cognitive effort. Using an effortful arithmetic task, we find that fEMG activity in the corrugator supercilii-thought to index negative valence-1) tracks the anticipation and exertion of cognitive effort and 2) is attenuated in the presence of high rewards. Together, these results suggest that activity in the corrugator reflects the integration of effort costs and rewards during effortful decision-making.

226. Elevated Delta Power in People Choosing to Expend Less Effort in a Cognitive Effort Task

226. Elevated Delta Power in People Choosing to Expend Less Effort in a Cognitive Effort Task

Misreporting in teams with individual decision making: The impact of information and communication

We extend the experimental analysis of misreporting performance in real effort tasks (cheating) to situations where two members of a team perform the task sequentially and decide independently on their potentially inflated reports. We vary three factors in our experiment: whether no players, only players 2, or both players can misreport; whether players 2 learn the report of players 1; and whether players 1 can send a message to players 2 requesting honest or dishonest behavior. Our data yield two main insights. First, higher reports by players 1 lead to higher reports by players 2, i.e. misreporting is reinforcing. Second, allowing players 1 to send a message suggesting that players 2 either report honestly or a minimum number of correct solutions reduces misreporting by players 2. There are two channels for this. First, most players 1 request an honest report. Second, players 2 misreport far less when they receive the honest message, but, compared to the treatments without messages, hardly change their reports when they are asked to report a minimum number of correct solutions. We find a similar, though less pronounced, asymmetric response when players 2 learn the reports of players 1. These findings suggest that communication and information transmission can reduce cheating, and that there are notable spillover effects of honesty even in anonymous environments.

Test-Retest Reliability and the Role of Task Instructions when Measuring Listening Effort Using a Verbal Response Time Paradigm.

Listening amidst competing noise taxes one's limited cognitive resources, leading to increased listening effort. As such, there is interest in incorporating a reliable test of listening effort into the clinical test battery. One clinically promising method for measuring listening effort is verbal response time (VRT) because it can be obtained using already-established clinical tasks. In order for widespread implementation of the VRT paradigm, a better understanding of the psychometric properties is needed. The purpose of this work was to improve the understanding of the reliability and sensitivity of the VRT listening task. Using within-subject study designs, we completed a pilot study to evaluate the test-retest reliability (Study 1) and the effects of task instructions and listening condition (Study 2). Preliminary results show that the VRT paradigm enjoys good to excellent test-retest reliability and that neither task instructions nor listening condition meaningfully influence VRT once measurement error is accounted for. Future studies should account for measurement error when considering statistically significant versus meaningful effects of experimental parameters when using listening effort tasks.

Do humans prefer cognitive effort over doing nothing?

Humans and other animals find mental (and physical) effort aversive and have the fundamental drive to avoid it. However, doing nothing is also aversive. Here, we ask whether people choose to avoid effort when the alternative is to do nothing at all. Across 12 studies, participants completed variants of the demand selection task, in which they repeatedly selected between a cognitively effortful task (e.g., simple addition, Stroop task, and symbol-counting task) and a task that required no effort (e.g., doing nothing, watching the computer complete the Stroop, and symbol-viewing). We then tabulated people's choices. Across our studies and an internal meta-analysis, we found little evidence that people choose to avoid effort (and hints that people sometimes prefer effort) when the alternative was doing nothing. Our findings suggest that doing nothing can be just as costly-if not more costly-than exerting effort. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Combining Iclepertin (BI 425809) With Computerized Cognitive Training in Patients With Schizophrenia: Baseline Data From an Ongoing Phase II Trial

AbstractIntroductionThere are currently no approved pharmacotherapies to treat cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). Iclepertin (BI 425809) is a novel glycine transporter-1 inhibitor under development for treatment of CIAS. A previous study demonstrated pro-cognitive effects of iclepertin in patients with schizophrenia; however, concurrent cognitive stimulation could in theory enhance any pro-cognitive pharmacological effects on neuroplasticity. We present preliminary demographics and baseline data from a trial exploring the efficacy of iclepertin together with at-home computerized cognitive training (CCT).MethodsThis is an ongoing Phase II, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial in patients with schizophrenia on stable antipsychotic therapy across ~58 centers in 6 countries. Patients aged 18–50 years, compliant with CCT during the run-in period (completing ≥2 hours/week for 2 weeks), were randomized (1:1) to receive once-daily iclepertin 10 mg or placebo together with CCT for 12 weeks. Thereafter, minimum compliance for at-home CCT is 1 hour/week, with a target of ~30 hours across 3–5 sessions totaling 2.5 hours/week. Patients have been stratified to balance potential effects of age (18–40; 41–50 years). Primary endpoint is change from baseline (CfB) in neurocognitive composite T-score of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) at Week 12. Secondary endpoints include CfB in the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) total score, MCCB overall composite T-score, and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores. Novel exploratory endpoints include the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool to assess daily functioning and the Balloon Effort Task to assess motivation in cognitive performance.ResultsOf the planned sample of 200 randomized patients, the overall treated population currently includes 183: 67% (n=122) are male; mean (standard deviation [SD]) age and time since first diagnosis are 38.2 (7.9) years and 13.5 (8.5) years. Overall, 49% (n=89) are White and 43% (n=79) are Black or African American; 80% (n=147) are from North America, 15% (n=28) from Europe, and 4% (n=8) from Australia/New Zealand. Mean (SD) baseline MCCB neurocognitive composite and overall T-scores (n=178) are 33.7 (11.9) and 32.5 (12.6). Mean (SD) baseline SCoRS total score (n=167) is 35.2 (8.7). Mean (SD) baseline PANSS total and negative symptom scale scores (n=183) are 64.7 (14.6) and 17.3 (5.4). Median (Q1, Q3) CCT compliance over the on-treatment period for patients who have completed or discontinued early is 2.00 (1.21, 2.51) hours/week.ConclusionThis trial is, to our knowledge, the largest of its kind combining daily pharmacotherapy for CIAS with at-home CCT. It will indicate whether iclepertin together with concurrent cognitive stimulation provides enhanced cognitive benefit, and whether any improvements in neurocognition can translate into improved measures of daily functioning in patients.FundingBoehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (NCT03859973/1346-0038)

Initiative apathy trait underlies individual differences in the ability to anticipate and expend cognitive effort in cost-benefit decision-making tasks.

Initiative apathy is the most disabling form of apathy, prevalent both in neuropsychiatric pathologies and in the healthy population. This apathy has been specifically associated with functional abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex, a key structure underlying Effort-based Decision-Making (EDM). The main aim of the present study was to explore, for the first time, the cognitive and neural effort mechanisms of initiative apathy, by distinguishing the steps of effort anticipation and effort expenditure and the potential modulating effect of motivation. We conducted an EEG study in 23 subjects with specific subclinical initiative apathy and 24 healthy subjects with no apathy. The subjects had to complete two effort tasks. The analysis of behavioral choices, CNV, and mPFC theta power highlighted that initiative apathy is associated with effort avoidance and impairments of effort anticipation and effort expenditure that suggest EDM deficits. Better knowledge of these impairments should aid the development of new, more targeted therapeutic interventions necessary for reducing the debilitating consequences of initiative apathy.

Bioenergetic changes and mitochondrial dysfunction in mania versus euthymia in bipolar disorder type I

IntroductionCurrent evidence has hypothesized the involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction during the acute episodes of BD compared to symptomatic remission. So far, no studies have compared mitochondrial and bioenergetic functions both in-vivo (respiratory parameters) and ex-vivo (cellular respiration) in different phases of the disease in the same individuals.ObjectivesThis multidisciplinary pilot study aims at assessing bioenergetic and mitochondrial intra-individual differences between manic and euthymic states.MethodsFour patients with a manic episode admitted to our acute psychiatric ward were recruited. Bioenergetic parameters were measured at admission (T0) and after symptomatic remission (T1).At admission (T0) and before discharge (T1), HAMD and YMRS total scores were obtained. For the assessment of cellular respiration, polymorphonuclear cells were obtained by a Ficoll density gradient centrifugation procedure. To determine oxygen consumption (at T0 and T1), a million of living peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were used. High-resolution respirometry was performed at 37°C by polarographic oxygen sensors in a two-chamber Oxygraph-2k system.Specific oxygen uptakes (Routine: basal oxygen consumption; Proton Leak: oxygen consumption not coupled to ATP synthesis; and ETC: maximal capacity of the electron transport chain) rates were obtained using mitochondrial chain inhibitors and uncouplers. Oxygen consumption was normalized for protein concentration. Results are expressed as picomoles of oxygen per millilitre (pmol O2/s*μg prot).Also, a constant work rate exercise test was performed on a cycle ergometer and basal and effort respiratory variables were measured.Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS v. 25.0 and GraphPad. Results were expressed as means and SD. Nonparametric tests (Mann–Whitney, Pearson) were used to determine differences (significant at p value <0.05).ResultsOne patient was a man and three patients were women, with a mean age of 28 years old. HAMD initial and final mean scores were 11.0 and 7.0, and mean YMRS scores were 21.5 and 7.0 respectively.Results from mitochondrial oxygen consumption revealed that mean basal oxygen consumption tended to be higher in T1 (0.98±0.45) than in T0, and maximal respiratory capacity was significantly increased in T1 (2.26±0.33; p=0.028) compared to T0.Mean lactate levels and pH levels were similar in T0 and T1. Scales scores were not correlated to different pH or lactate changes after the effort task. Higher initial oxygen consumption was significantly correlated to higher maximal capacity (p<0.05) in T0 and T1.Image:ConclusionsOur preliminary results suggest that mania could imply lower oxygen consumption capacity, which should be confirmed in future studies. A bigger study is planned to determine changes in bioenergetic patterns and capacity for aerobic response in manic and depressive episodes.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Social norms and couples' division of labor

The COVID pandemic, which forced children to attend school remotely, compelled many couples to choose one partner to stay home to care for the children. The available evidence indicates that it is more common for women to stop working in such situations than men. In this paper, we conduct an experiment to investigate, in a controlled manner, couples' behaviors in deciding who continues to work and who quits. The design allows us to investigate the relationship between the quitting decision and social norms regarding gender roles, as well as the role of peer pressure in the decision. Participants in the experiment are real-life couples recruited for the study. Other subjects drawn from the same population serve as controls. The experimental design involves both parties undertaking a real effort task for payment. At a certain point in the session, one member of the couple must stop and the other must continue the task and earn income for the couple. We find that the couples are more likely to choose the boyfriend to continue the real-effort task for money and the girlfriend to quit the task. Framing the decision as choosing whom to “quit” working rather than whom to “continue” working has a small effect on decisions. Whether choices are revealed to their peers or not does not influence the outcome. An ancillary experiment reveals that choosing husbands to work and wives to quit the labor force is considered as the norm.JEL classificationC91, D13, J16, J22, J71.

Prospective Memory Function Predicts Future Cognitive Decline and Incident Dementia.

This study aimed to test whether prospective memory (PM) was an early cognitive marker of future cognitive decline and incident dementia using longitudinal data spanning 8years from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study. At baseline, 121 participants aged 72-91years were tested in PM using a validated PM task, Virtual Week, which included time- and event-based tasks presented with varying regularity. Responses were scored "Correct" if completed accurately and "Missed" if the target was not remembered at any time. Measures of cognition were taken at baseline and 2-year intervals over 8years. Dementia diagnoses were made by expert consensus panels using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria. Linear mixed models and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the data, controlling for potential confounds. Both decreased PM accuracy and missed PM responses were associated with rate of cognitive decline measured by Mini-Mental State Examination over 8years and global cognitive decline over 4years. Risk of incident dementia increased with poorer baseline PM ability and missed responses. These effects remained significant after controlling for baseline cognition and were strongest for event-based and regular PM tasks. PM is a sensitive early marker of future cognitive decline and risk of incident dementia. PM tasks supported by spontaneous retrieval (event-based) and those with lower retrospective memory demands (regular tasks) function as particularly sensitive predictors. In other words, deficits in performing less effortful PM tasks best predicted cognitive decline. These findings may encourage clinicians to incorporate PM tasks in clinical assessments.

Reducing Back Exertion and Improving Confidence of Individuals with Low Back Pain with a Back Exosuit: A Feasibility Study for Use in BACPAC.

Low back pain (LBP) is hallmarked by activity limitations, especially for tasks involving bending. Back exosuit technology reduces low back discomfort and improves self-efficacy of individuals with LBP during bending and lifting tasks. However, the biomechanical efficacy of these devices in individuals with LBP is unknown. This study sought to determine biomechanical and perceptual effects of a soft active back exosuit designed to assist individuals with LBP sagittal plane bending. To understand patient-reported usability and use cases for this device. Fifteen individuals with LBP performed two experimental lifting blocks once with and without an exosuit. Trunk biomechanics were measured by muscle activation amplitudes, and whole-body kinematics and kinetics. To evaluate device perception, participants rated task effort, low back discomfort, and their level of concern completing daily activities. The back exosuit reduced peak back extensor: moments by 9%, and muscle amplitudes by 16% when lifting. There were no changes in abdominal co-activation and small reductions maximum trunk flexion compared to lifting without an exosuit. Participants reported lower task effort, back discomfort, and concern about bending and lifting with an exosuit compared to without. This study demonstrates a back exosuit not only imparts perceptual benefits of reduced task effort, discomfort, and increased confidence in individuals with LBP but that it achieves these benefits through measurable biomechanical reductions in back extensor effort. The combined effect of these benefits implies back exosuits might be a potential therapeutic aid to augment physical therapy, exercises, or daily activities.

Effort-based decision making in schizotypy and its relationship with amotivation and psychosocial functioning.

Suboptimal effort-based decision-making with reduced willingness to expend effort for high-probability/high-value reward is observed in schizophrenia patients and is related to diminished motivation, but is understudied in schizotypy. This study aimed to examine effort-allocation in schizotypy individuals and its association with amotivation and psychosocial functioning. We recruited 40 schizotypy individuals and 40 demographically-matched healthy controls, based on Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) score (top and bottom 10% SPQ-B scores, respectively), from 2400 young people aged 15-24 years participating a population-based mental health survey in Hong Kong and examined effort-allocation using the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task (EEfRT). Negative / amotivation symptoms and psychosocial functioning were assessed by the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and the Social Functioning and Occupational Assessment Scale (SOFAS), respectively. Schizotypy individuals were categorized into high-amotivation and low-amotivation groups based on a median-split of BNSS amotivation domain score. Our results showed no main group effect (in either two or three-group comparison) on effort task performance. Three-group comparison analyses on selected EEfRT performance indices revealed that high-amotivation schizotypy individuals displayed significantly less increase in effortful options from low-value to high-value reward (reward-difference score) and from low-probability/low-value to high-probability/high-value reward (probability/reward-difference score) than low-amotivation individuals and controls. Correlation analyses demonstrated trend-wise significance between BNSS amotivation domain score and several EEfRT performance indices in schizotypy group. Schizotypy individuals with poorer psychosocial functioning tended to exhibit smaller probability/reward-difference score relative to other two groups. Our findings indicate subtle effort-allocation abnormalities in schizotypy individuals with high levels of diminished motivation, and suggest the link between laboratory-based effort-cost measures and real-world functional outcome.

Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children

Rooted in the novel and the mysterious, awe is a common experience in childhood, but research is almost silent with respect to the import of this emotion for children. Awe makes individuals feel small, thereby shifting their attention to the social world. Here, we studied the effects of art-elicited awe on children’s prosocial behavior toward an out-group and its unique physiological correlates. In two preregistered studies (Study 1: N = 159, Study 2: N = 353), children between 8 and 13 years old viewed movie clips that elicited awe, joy, or a neutral (control) response. Children who watched the awe-eliciting clip were more likely to spend their time on an effortful task (Study 1) and to donate their experimental earnings (Studies 1 and 2), all toward benefiting refugees. They also exhibited increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with social engagement. We discuss implications for fostering prosociality by reimagining children’s environments to inspire awe at a critical age.

Listening effort for sentence comprehension in noisy classroom: the mediating role of linguistic factors, inhibitory control and noise sensitivity

Children learn in noisy classrooms, where often the main masker is their own babble. Even when the acoustic conditions are favorable (i.e. low noise levels), differences in individual performance and listening effort in complex academic tasks are observed. Personal characteristics such as linguistic and cognitive skills, and sensitivity to noise have been reported as factors supporting students' performance. Moreover, the Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening (FUEL) postulates that the additional individual dimension of children's motivation should be considered when evaluating listening effort besides task-related cognitive demands. This study aims to explore the interplay of the above-mentioned individual factors for primary school children (N=120, grades 3 to 5) doing a sentence comprehension task in a two-talkers background noise. Data on both accuracy and response time, as well as self-ratings of effort and motivation were acquired. In addition, inhibitory control, linguistic competences and self-ratings of noise sensitivity were measured in quiet. Results first highlight how acoustic conditions and linguistic competencies influence child's motivation, and then show how the child's inhibitory control and noise sensitivity mediate behavioral and subjective effort. Thus, individual factors shall be taken into consideration when evaluating the effect of classroom acoustics on the performance in academic tasks.

Penalty contracts: is it all about paying the cash upfront?

We experimentally investigate the relevance of a cash upfront payment for the effort-enhancing effect of penalty contracts. We find that penalty contracts where participants receive the upfront payment physically before working on a real effort task induce more effort than penalty contracts where participants are only informed about the upfront payment. When comparing penalty contracts with economically-equivalent bonus contracts, we find that penalty contracts lead to higher effort provision than bonus contracts, but only if participants physically receive the upfront cash payment in advance. We suggest that the higher salience of the cash upfront payment might be a core driver of the detected framing effect. Our findings emphasize the importance of experimental design choices when studying framed incentive contracts.

Rating of perceived effort but relative to what? A comparison between imposed and self-selected anchors

PurposeCollecting reliable and valid rating of perceived effort (RPE) data requires properly anchoring the scales’ upper limits (i.e., the meaning of 10 on a 0–10 scale). Yet, despite their importance, anchoring procedures remain understudied and theoretically underdeveloped. Here we propose a new task-based anchoring procedure that distinguishes between imposed and self-selected anchors. In the former, researchers impose on participants a specific task as the anchor; in the latter, participants choose the most effortful task experienced or imaginable as the anchor. We compared the impact of these conceptually different anchoring procedures on RPE. MethodsTwenty-five resistance-trained participants (13 females) attended a familiarization and two randomized experimental sessions. In both experimental sessions, participants performed non-fatiguing and fatiguing isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) protocols with the squat followed by the gripper or vice versa. After each MVC, participants reported their RPE on a 0–10 scale relative to an imposed anchor of the performed task (e.g., gripper MVCs anchored to a gripper MVC) or to a self-selected anchor. ResultsIn the non-fatiguing condition, imposed anchors yielded greater RPEs than self-selected anchors for both the squat [on average, 9.4 vs. 5.5; Δ(CI95%) = 3.9 (3.2, 4.5)] and gripper [9.4 vs. 3.9; Δ = 5.5 (4.7, 6.3)]. Similar results were observed in the fatiguing condition for both the squat [9.7 vs. 6.9; Δ = 2.8 (2.1, 3.5)] and gripper [9.7 vs. 4.5; Δ = 5.2 (4.3, 5.9)]. ConclusionsWe found large differences in RPE between the two anchors, independent of exercises and fatigue state. These findings provide a basis for further development and refinement of anchoring procedures and highlight the importance of selecting, justifying, and consistently applying the chosen anchors.

The effect of loss aversion and entitlement on cheating: An online experiment

We investigate how loss aversion and entitlement influence lying. We conduct an online experiment with a cheating task in which participants draw and report a number. Participants can cheat by reporting a different number to earn a higher payoff. We vary whether participants perform (or not) a real effort task to generate their endowment before the cheating task to evoke a sense of entitlement, and whether participants can cheat for an additional gain or to avoid a loss using a 2 (earned/not earned endowment) × 2 (loss/gain) design. We find no effect of loss aversion on cheating and only weak evidence of a prior stage of real effort on lying behavior. Furthermore, we find a correlation between real effort task performance and lying, but only in the gain domain. This is the first study to look at how entitlement affects cheating behavior in both the gain and loss domains.

Reducing the user labeling effort in effective high recall tasks by fine-tuning active learning

Reducing the user labeling effort in effective high recall tasks by fine-tuning active learning