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Poster Session C: Friday, August 15, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Computational mechanisms underlying how humans adapt their choices to the average effort of the environment

Emma V. Scholey¹, Nikita Mehta, Matthew Apps; ¹University of Birmingham

Presenter: Emma V. Scholey

Would the tallest hill in Amsterdam seem as effortful to climb in the Alps? Effort is relative, and deciding to exert ourselves can depend on how effortful other options in the environment are on average. But how people decide whether to exert effort as the average effort distribution of the environment changes remains unclear. Across three experiments, participants completed a novel task choosing whether to accept an offered level of physical effort for rewards or wait for potentially easier alternatives. Participants completed this task in both `easy' and `hard' environments with different average effort distributions. We found that people dynamically adjusted their effort preferences based on the environment, becoming less willing to exert mid-levels of effort in easier environments. A computational model tracking average effort rates could explain these choice behaviour patterns. These results provide a computational framework for understanding how effort-based choice is influenced by the environment.

Topic Area: Reward, Value & Social Decision Making

Extended Abstract: Full Text PDF