A computational account of why more valuable goals seem to require more effortful actions.

ABSTRACT: To decide whether a course of action is worth pursuing, individuals typically weigh its expected costs and benefits. Optimal decision-making relies upon accurate effort cost anticipation, which is generally assumed to be performed independently from goal valuation. In two experiments (n = 46), we challenged this independence principle of standard decision theory. We presented participants with a series of treadmill routes randomly associated to monetary rewards and collected both 'accept' versus 'decline' decisions and subjective estimates of energetic cost. Behavioural results show that higher monetary prospects led participants to provide higher cost estimates, although reward was independent from effort in our design. Among candidate cognitive explanations, they support a model in which

SUBMITTER: Bioud E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9355565 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature