Toward a Rational and Mechanistic Account of Mental Effort

Deep learning

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Bored of sports? Investigating the interactive role of engagement and value as predictors of boredom in athletic training.

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Examining the alignment between subjective effort and objective force production

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A timeline of cognitive costs in decision-making

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Abnormal Eye and Cranial Movements Triggered by Examination in People with Functional Neurological Disorder

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Toward a cognitive science of markets: economic agents as sense-makers

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Individualized Cognitive Effort to Failure Does Not Affect Subsequent Strenuous Physical Performance

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Anticipated, experienced, and remembered subjective effort and discomfort on sustained attention versus working memory tasks

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Cooperation moderates the impact of effort on reward valuation

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Mental control of uncertainty

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Putting Effort into Emotion Regulation: Manipulating Desirability and Motivational Strength

Gutentag, T., & Tamir, M. (2022) · Affective Science · doi:10.1007/s42761-022-00155-0 · Cited by 13

Preferences for seeking effort or reward information bias the willingness to work

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Neural signatures of task-related fluctuations in auditory attention and age-related changes

Herrmann, B., Maeß, B., Henry, M. J., Obleser, J., & Johnsrude, I. S. (2023) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119883 · Cited by 13

Reward Accelerates the Preparation of Goal-directed Actions under Conflict

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Monetary feedback modulates performance and electrophysiological indices of belief updating in reward learning

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Setting the space for deliberation in decision-making

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Private but not social information validity modulates social conformity bias

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Regulatory effect of implicit acceptance during outcome evaluation: The temporal dynamics in an event-related potential study

Yuan, J., Long, Q., Li, X., Deng, Z., Ma, B., Chen, S., & Yang, J. (2019) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.05.003 · Cited by 13

Proactive control of affective distraction: Experience-based but not expectancy-based

Schmidts, C., Foerster, A., Kleinsorge, T., & Kunde, W. (2019) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104072 · Cited by 13

Objective Versus Subjective Effort in Schizophrenia

Kreis, I. V., Moritz, S., & Pfuhl, G. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01469 · Cited by 15

Epistemic reduction of the concept of ‘decision’

Burnston, D. C. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-04917-8 · Cited by 12

Assessing the efficacy of the Pomodoro technique in enhancing anatomy lesson retention during study sessions: a scoping review

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The effects of mental fatigue on effort allocation: Modeling and estimation.

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Mapping attention across multiple media tasks

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

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The impact of cognitive and motivational resources on engagement with automated formative feedback

Barkela, V., Schmitt, L., & Leuchter, M. (2023) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102234 · Cited by 18

Note on the Dual-Task Paradigm and its Use to Measure Listening Effort

Kuchinsky, S. E., Gallun, F. J., & Lee, A. K. C. (2024) · Trends in Hearing · doi:10.1177/23312165241292215 · Cited by 12

Navigating Social Media News Use: Exploring the Impact of Intentional and Incidental News Consumption on Objective and Subjective Political Knowledge

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Neuromuscular Fatigue Induced by a Mixed Martial Art Training Protocol

Giboin, L., & Gruber, M. (2019) · The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000003468 · Cited by 12

Untangling Cost, Effort, and Load in Information Seeking and Retrieval

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Fatigue: Tough days at work change your prefrontal metabolites

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The Identity-Value Model of Self-Regulation: Integration, Extension, and Open Questions

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A methodological toolbox for investigating attentional strategy

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Cognitive Persistence and Executive Function in the Multilingual Brain During Aging

Teubner-Rhodes, S. E. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568702 · Cited by 13

Inhibition of the supplementary motor area affects distribution of effort over time

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Rats strategically manage learning during perceptual decision makingPreprint

Masis, J. A., Chapman, T., Rhee, J. Y., Cox, D., & Saxe, A. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.09.01.259911 · Cited by 12

Reward sensitivity following boredom and cognitive effort: A high-powered neurophysiological investigationPreprint

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Neural and Computational Mechanisms of Motivation and Decision-making

Yee, D. M. (2024) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_02258 · Cited by 13

Mobilizing effort to reduce lapses of sustained attention: examining the effects of content-free cues, feedback, and points

Nash Unsworth, A., Robison, M. K., & Miller, A. L. (2024) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-024-01254-0 · Cited by 12

The integration of self-efficacy and response-efficacy in decision making

Yang, Y.-Y., & Delgado, M. R. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-85577-z · Cited by 18

A New Method for Inducing Mental Fatigue: A High Mental Workload Task Paradigm Based on Complex Cognitive Abilities and Time Pressure

Ren, L., Wu, L., Feng, T., & Liu, X. (2025) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci15060541 · Cited by 12

The intensity of mental effort: “the heart does not lie”

Gendolla, G. H. E. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-05043-1 · Cited by 18

Elites Do Not Deplete – No Effect of Prior Mental Exertion on Subsequent Shooting Performance in Elite Shooters

Englert, C., Dziuba, A., Giboin, L., & Wolff, W. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.668108 · Cited by 11

Having no negotiation power does not matter as long as you can think creatively: the moderating role of age

Fousiani, K., Jonge, K. M. M. D., & Michelakis, G. (2022) · International Journal of Conflict Management · doi:10.1108/ijcma-05-2022-0086 · Cited by 11

Cognition: A Study in Mental Economy

Wojtowicz, Z., & Loewenstein, G. F. (2023) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.13252 · Cited by 10

Some scales require cognitive effort: A systematic review on the role of working memory in scalar implicature derivation

Nys, B. L., Wong, W. Y., & Schaeken, W. (2023) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105623 · Cited by 13

Intentional mind-wandering as intentional omission: the surrealist method

Arango‐Muñoz, S., & Bermúdez, J. P. (2021) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-021-03135-2 · Cited by 17

The Average Reward Rate Modulates Behavioral and Neural Indices of Effortful Control Allocation

Lin, H., Ristic, J., Inzlicht, M., & Otto, A. R. (2022) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_01905 · Cited by 9

Empathy is a Choice: People are Empathy Misers Because They are Cognitive MisersPreprint

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Perceived fatigue does not alter effort-based decision making but does undermine confidence in the ability to perform physical actionsPreprint

Greenhouse‐Tucknott, A., Wrightson, J. G., Berens, S. C., Dekerle, J., & Harrison, N. A. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114792 · Cited by 12

Neurometabolic predictors of mental effort in the frontal cortex

Barakat, A., Brochard, J., Pessiglione, M., Godin, J., Cuenoud, B. M., Xin, L., Clairis, N., & Sandi, C. (2025) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-025-03554-6 · Cited by 10

Do people really avoid effort? A cost – benefit perspective on the principle of least effort

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Effort and its perception revisited: How physical-domain insights could lead toward a unified theory

Mangin, T., & Pageaux, B. (2026) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-026-01411-7 · Cited by 12

Why Slop Matters

Kommers, C., Duede, E., Gordon, J., Holtzman, A., McNulty, T., Stewart, S. D., Thomas, L., So, R. J., & Long, H. J. (2026) · ACM AI Letters · doi:10.1145/3786777 · Cited by 19

A Systematic Review of Cost, Effort, and Load Research in Information Search and Retrieval, 1972–2020

McGregor, M., Azzopardi, L. A., & Halvey, M. J. (2023) · ACM Transactions on Information Systems · doi:10.1145/3583069 · Cited by 12

Enhancing Cognitive Function in Older Adults through Processing Speed Training: Implications for Cognitive Health Awareness

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Proximity to rewards modulates parameters of effortful control exertion.

Devine, S., Roy, M., Beierholm, U., & Otto, A. R. (2024) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0001561 · Cited by 13

Exaggerated frontoparietal control over cognitive effort-based decision-making in young women with anorexia nervosa

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The Extended Mind in Young Children: Cost-Dependent Trade-Off Between External and Internal Memory

Liang, Y., Blaser, E., Jia, Y., Sai, L., & Káldy, Z. (2025) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09567976241306424 · Cited by 11

Recovery from accumulated strain: the role of daily mood and opportunity costs during a vacation

Cardini, B. B., & Freund, A. M. (2020) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2020.1809661 · Cited by 11

Investigating the effect of losses and gains on effortful engagement during an incentivized Go/NoGo task through anticipatory cortical oscillatory changes

Byrne, A., Hewitt, D., Henderson, J. R., Newton‐Fenner, A., Roberts, H., Tyson‐Carr, J., Fallon, N., Giesbrecht, T., & Stančák, A. (2021) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.13897 · Cited by 10

A unified framework for interpreting a range of motivation-performance phenomena

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‘Musical effort’ and ‘musical pleasantness’

Inguscio, B. M. S., Mancini, P., Greco, A., Nicastri, M., Giallini, I., Leone, C. A., Grassia, R., Nardo, W. D., Cesare, T. D., Rossi, F., et al. (2022) · Hearing Balance and Communication · doi:10.1080/21695717.2022.2079325 · Cited by 10

Perceptual processing demands influence voluntary task choice

Mittelstädt, V., Miller, J. O., & Kiesel, A. (2022) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105232 · Cited by 12

Executive Control of Sequence Behavior in Pigeons Involves Two Distinct Brain Regions

Hahn, L. A., & Rose, J. (2023) · eNeuro · doi:10.1523/eneuro.0296-22.2023 · Cited by 10

Pushing the Bounds of Bounded Optimality and Rationality

Musslick, S., & Masis, J. A. (2023) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.13259 · Cited by 10

The motivational role of the ventral striatum and amygdala in learning from gains and losses.

Taswell, C. A., Janssen, M., Murray, E. A., & Averbeck, B. B. (2023) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/bne0000558 · Cited by 12

People can use the placement of objects to infer communicative goals

Lopez-Brau, M., & Jara‐Ettinger, J. (2020) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105524 · Cited by 10

Allocating Mental Effort in Cognitive Tasks: A Model of Motivation in the ACT‐R Cognitive Architecture

Yang, Y. C., & Stocco, A. (2023) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12711 · Cited by 11

Humans do not avoid reactively implementing cognitive control.

Bustos, B., Colvett, J. S., Bugg, J. M., & Kool, W. (2024) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance · doi:10.1037/xhp0001207 · Cited by 15

On the effects of tyrosine supplementation on interference control in a randomized, double-blind placebo-control trial

Stock, A., Colzato, L. S., & Beste, C. (2018) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.05.010 · Cited by 10

Investigating intentional forgetting using pupillometry: no evidence for the ongoing allocation of cognitive resources during forgetting

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Investigating Performance in a Strenuous Physical Task from the Perspective of Self-Control

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Bridging Motor and Cognitive Control: It’s About Time!

Ritz, H., Frömer, R., & Shenhav, A. (2019) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2019.11.005 · Cited by 10

Information Rate in Humans during Visuomotor Tracking

Lam, S. Y., & Zénon, A. (2021) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e23020228 · Cited by 10

Deriving Mental Energy From Task Completion

Xiang, W., Janiszewski, C. A., Zheng, Y., Laran, J., & Jang, W. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.717414 · Cited by 10

Costly habitual avoidance is reduced by concurrent goal-directed approach in a modified devaluation paradigm

Glück, V. M., Zwosta, K., Wolfensteller, U., Ruge, H., & Pittig, A. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2021.103964 · Cited by 10

Effects of bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex high-definition transcranial direct-current stimulation on time-trial performance in cyclists with type 1 diabetes mellitus

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Cognitive Reserve? Cognitive Capacity!

Paap, K. R. (2024) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci14121265 · Cited by 9

Effort paradox redux: Rethinking how effort shapes social behavior

Inzlicht, M., Campbell, A. V., & Saunders, B. (2025) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2025.04.002 · Cited by 11

Vigilance, arousal, and acetylcholine: Optimal control of attention in a simple detection task

Chebolu, S., Dayan, P., & Lloyd, K. (2022) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010642 · Cited by 10

Task performance errors and rewards affect voluntary task choices

Spitzer, M., Musslick, S., Janz, J., Kiesel, A., & Dignath, D. (2024) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-023-01908-7 · Cited by 12

Reward circuitry activation reflects social preferences in the face of cognitive effort

Sullivan‐Toole, H., Dobryakova, E., DePasque, S., & Tricomi, E. M. (2018) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.06.011 · Cited by 10

Perceived effort for reaching is associated with self-reported fatigue

Goh, H., Stewart, J. C., Becker, K. A., & Hung, C. (2021) · Journal of Motor Behavior · doi:10.1080/00222895.2021.1871877 · Cited by 12

Towards a common code for difficulty: Navigating a narrow gap is like memorizing an extra digit

Feghhi, I., Franchak, J. M., & Rosenbaum, D. Α. (2021) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-021-02356-4 · Cited by 9

Neural correlates of changing food choices while bypassing values

Zahedi, A., Artigas, S. O., Swaboda, N., Wiers, C. E., Görgen, K., & Park, S. Q. (2023) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120134 · Cited by 9

Learning to Overexert Cognitive Control in a Stroop TaskPreprint

Bustamante, L. A., Lieder, F., Musslick, S., Shenhav, A., & Cohen, J. D. (2020) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/3rynj · Cited by 10

Thinking about Thinking as Rational ComputationPreprint

Berke, M., Tenenbaum, A., Sterling, B., & Jara‐Ettinger, J. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/e65p3 · Cited by 9

Humans trade off search costs and accuracy in a combined visual search and perceptual task

Wagner, I., Henare, D., Tünnermann, J., Schubö, A., & Schütz, A. C. (2022) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-022-02600-5 · Cited by 8

Make or Break: The Influence of Expected Challenges and Rewards on the Motivation and Experience Associated with Cognitive Effort Exertion

Zhang, Y. C., Leng, X., & Shenhav, A. (2024) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_02247 · Cited by 8

The strategic allocation theory of vigilance

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An inverted U-shaped relationship between chronic stress and the motivation to expend effort for reward

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The temporal dynamics of metacognitive experiences track rational adaptations in task performance

Vermeylen, L., Braem, S., Ivanchei, I. I., Desender, K., García-Román, J. M., González‐García, C., Ruz, M., & Notebaert, W. (2025) · Communications Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44271-025-00282-x · Cited by 11

The Role of Cognitive Effort in Emotion Regulation

Scheffel, C., & Gärtner, A. (2025) · Affective Science · doi:10.1007/s42761-025-00324-x · Cited by 14

Value Analysis determines when and how to strive

Cao, S., Chen-Chen, T. A. N. G., Wu, H., & Liu, X. (2022) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2022.00877 · Cited by 8

Disturbed insular functional connectivity and its clinical implication in patients with complex regional pain syndrome

Kim, J., Namgung, E., Lee, S. L., Ha, E., Hong, H., Song, Y., Lee, H., Oh, S., Lyoo, I. K., Yoon, S. J., et al. (2023) · NeuroImage Clinical · doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103440 · Cited by 8

Pupillary correlates of preparatory control in the Stroop task

Nash Unsworth, A., & Miller, A. L. (2023) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-023-02751-z · Cited by 8

Policy abstraction as a predictor of cognitive effort avoidance.

Sayalı, C., Rubin‐McGregor, J., & Badre, D. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0001449 · Cited by 10

The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on rating of perceived exertion: A systematic review of the literature

Baharlouei, H., Goosheh, M., Moore, M., Ahmadi, A. H. R., Yassin, M., & Jaberzadeh, S. J. (2024) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14520 · Cited by 8

Sharing Identity with AI Systems: A Comprehensive Review

Gutoreva, A. (2024) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2023.12.141 · Cited by 8

An Integrative Model of Effortful Control

André, N., Audiffren, M. F., & Baumeister, R. F. (2019) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2019.00079 · Cited by 96

Decomposing the Motivation to Exert Mental Effort

Shenhav, A., Fahey, M. P., & Grahek, I. (2021) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09637214211009510 · Cited by 109

Mental labour

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An opportunity cost model of subjective effort and task performance

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The controllosphere: The neural origin of cognitive effort.

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