The DOI matches its Crossref record; 196 of the 196 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Toward a Rational and Mechanistic Account of Mental Effort
Open accessAbstract
In spite of its familiar phenomenology, the mechanistic basis for mental effort remains poorly understood. Although most researchers agree that mental effort is aversive and stems from limitations in our capacity to exercise cognitive control, it is unclear what gives rise to those limitations and why they result in an experience of control as costly. The presence of these control costs also raises further questions regarding how best to allocate mental effort to minimize those costs and maximize the attendant benefits. This review explores recent advances in computational modeling and empirical research aimed at addressing these questions at the level of psychological process and neural mechanism, examining both the limitations to mental effort exertion and how we manage those limited cognitive resources. We conclude by identifying remaining challenges for theoretical accounts of mental effort as well as possible applications of the available findings to understanding the causes of and potential solutions for apparent failures to exert the mental effort required of us.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Consequently, modern theories of motivation increasingly describe motivational states as the output of a computation (calculation), where the expected value of an action is weighed against anticipated costs. These include energetic costs, as all goal pursuit will require the expenditure of metabolic energy, opportunity costs, as the pursuit of one goal might block progress towards another, hedonic”
From Motivation in the Service of Allostasis: The Role of Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (2019) · cites this paper as Shenhav et al., 2017
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
1 retracted
RETRACTED: Role of test motivation in intelligence testing
Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., Lynam, D. R., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1018601108 · Cited by 344
RetractedLeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature14539 · Cited by 84,126
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.185.4157.1124 · Cited by 28,810
Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction
Sutton, R. S., & Barto, A. G. (1998) · IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks · doi:10.1109/tnn.1998.712192 · Cited by 27,225
James, W. (1891) · Personality Culture Society · doi:10.1037/11059-000 · Cited by 25,876
The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.
Miller, G. A. (1956) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0043158 · Cited by 17,812
Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition: Foundations
Rumelhart, D. E., McClelland, J. L., & AU (1986) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/5236.001.0001 · Cited by 15,686
Representation Learning: A Review and New Perspectives
Bengio, Y., Courville, A., & Vincent, P. (2013) · IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence · doi:10.1109/tpami.2013.50 · Cited by 13,001
An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function
Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.167 · Cited by 12,803
Self-citationHandbook of Positive Psychology
(2001) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195135336.001.0001 · Cited by 9,158
Conflict monitoring and cognitive control
Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.624 · Cited by 7,351
Self-citationShiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1977) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.84.2.127 · Cited by 7,335
Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals
Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087 · Cited by 6,911
How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awareness
(Bud) Craig, A. D. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2555 · Cited by 6,657
High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success
Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x · Cited by 6,557
Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex
Bush, G., Luu, P., & Posner, M. I. (2000) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01483-2 · Cited by 6,259
Rational choice and the structure of the environment.
Simon, H. A. (1956) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0042769 · Cited by 5,919
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness
Adkisson, R. V. (2008) · The Social Science Journal · doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2008.09.003 · Cited by 5,706
Saliency, switching, attention and control: a network model of insula function
Menon, V., & Uddin, L. Q. (2010) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-010-0262-0 · Cited by 5,592
A perspective on judgment and choice: mapping bounded rationality.
Kahneman, D. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.9.697 · Cited by 5,540
Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.42.1.116 · Cited by 5,359
Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.74.5.1252 · Cited by 5,312
(1983) · Cited by 5,041
Simon, H. A. (1997) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/4711.001.0001 · Cited by 4,900
Ratcliff, R. (1978) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.85.2.59 · Cited by 4,513
Aston-Jones, G., & Cohen, J. D. (2005) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135709 · Cited by 4,472
Self-citationThe capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions
Luck, S. J., & Vogel, E. K. (1997) · Nature · doi:10.1038/36846 · Cited by 4,265
Holroyd, C. B., & Coles, M. G. H. (2002) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.109.4.679 · Cited by 4,027
Delay of gratification in children.
Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1989) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.2658056 · Cited by 3,397
Monsell, S. (2003) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(03)00028-7 · Cited by 2,984
The role of the medial frontal cortex in cognitive control
Ridderinkhof, K. R., Ullsperger, M., Crone, E. A., & Nieuwenhuis, S. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1100301 · Cited by 2,974
Anterior Cingulate Conflict Monitoring and Adjustments in Control
Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., MacDonald, A. W., Cho, R. Y., Stenger, V. A., & Carter, C. S. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1089910 · Cited by 2,891
Self-citationFrontal theta as a mechanism for cognitive control
Cavanagh, J. F., & Frank, M. J. (2014) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2014.04.012 · Cited by 2,726
The variable nature of cognitive control: a dual mechanisms framework
Braver, T. S. (2012) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.12.010 · Cited by 2,482
Information Processing and Cognition: The Loyola Symposium
Brown, A. S., & Solso, R. L. (1976) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421430 · Cited by 2,398
The expected value of control: an integrative theory of anterior cingulate cortex function
Shenhav, A., Botvinick, M. M., & Cohen, J. D. (2013) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.07.007 · Cited by 2,321
Self-citationSelf-regulation failure: an overview.
Baumeister, R. F., & Heatherton, T. F. (1996) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0701_1 · Cited by 2,266
Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: a meta-analysis
Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2010) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0019486 · Cited by 2,265
Cohen, J. D., Dunbar, K. N., & McClelland, J. L. (1990) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.97.3.332 · Cited by 2,192
Self-citationThe integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex
Shackman, A. J., Salomons, T. V., Slagter, H. A., Fox, A. S., Winter, J. J., & Davidson, R. J. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2994 · Cited by 2,082
Learning and development in neural networks: the importance of starting small
Elman, J. L. (1993) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/0010-0277(93)90058-4 · Cited by 1,988
Adaptive strategy selection in decision making.
Payne, J. W., Bettman, J. R., & Johnson, E. J. (1988) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.14.3.534 · Cited by 1,955
Bogacz, R., Brown, E., Moehlis, J., Holmes, P. J., & Cohen, J. D. (2006) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.113.4.700 · Cited by 1,945
Self-citationMemory-scanning: mental processes revealed by reaction-time experiments.
Sternberg, S. (1969) · PubMed · Cited by 1,943
A dual-networks architecture of top-down control
Dosenbach, N. U. F., Fair, D. A., Cohen, A. L., Schlaggar, B. L., & Petersen, S. E. (2008) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.001 · Cited by 1,931
The multiple-demand (MD) system of the primate brain: mental programs for intelligent behaviour
Duncan, J. (2010) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.004 · Cited by 1,846
A Core System for the Implementation of Task Sets
Dosenbach, N. U. F., Visscher, K. M., Palmer, E. D., Miezin, F. M., Wenger, K. K., Kang, H. C., Burgund, E. D., Grimes, A. L., Schlaggar, B. L., & Petersen, S. E. (2006) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.04.031 · Cited by 1,772
Robert J. Hockey, G. (1997) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0301-0511(96)05223-4 · Cited by 1,753
On the economy of the human-processing system.
Navon, D., & Gopher, D. (1979) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.86.3.214 · Cited by 1,737
Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns.
Muraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.774 · Cited by 1,724
Habits, Rituals, and the Evaluative Brain
Graybiel, A. M. (2008) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.29.051605.112851 · Cited by 1,697
Bergum, B. O., Rabbitt, P., & Dornič, S. (1976) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421416 · Cited by 1,627
Pupil Diameter and Load on Memory
Kahneman, D., & Beatty, J. (1966) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.154.3756.1583 · Cited by 1,617
The Effects of Financial Incentives in Experiments: A Review and Capital-Labor-Production Framework
Camerer, C. F., & Hogarth, R. M. (1999) · Journal of Risk and Uncertainty · doi:10.1023/a:1007850605129 · Cited by 1,505
Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans
Marcora, S., Staiano, W., & Manning, V. (2009) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.91324.2008 · Cited by 1,485
An opportunity cost model of subjective effort and task performance
Kurzban, R., Duckworth, A., Kable, J. W., & Myers, J. (2013) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x12003196 · Cited by 1,381
Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor.
Gailliot, M. T., Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C. N., Maner, J. K., Plant, E. A., Tice, D. M., Brewer, L. E., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2007) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.2.325 · Cited by 1,297
Changing concepts of working memory
Ma, W. J., Husain, M., & Bays, P. M. (2014) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3655 · Cited by 1,208
Human cingulate cortex and autonomic control: converging neuroimaging and clinical evidence
Critchley, H. D., Mathias, C. J., Josephs, O., O’Doherty, J., Zanini, S., Dewar, B., Cipolotti, L., Shallice, T., & Dolan, R. J. (2003) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awg216 · Cited by 1,201
Decision making and the avoidance of cognitive demand
Kool, W., McGuire, J. T., Rosen, Z. B., & Botvinick, M. M. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/a0020198 · Cited by 1,141
Self-citationTonic dopamine: Opportunity costs and the control of response vigor
Niv, Y., Daw, N. D., Joel, D., & Dayan, P. (2007) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0502-4 · Cited by 1,133
O’Reilly, R. C., & Frank, M. J. (2005) · Neural Computation · doi:10.1162/089976606775093909 · Cited by 1,124
Frontal cortex and reward-guided learning and decision-making
Rushworth, M. F. S., Noonan, M. P., Boorman, E. D., Walton, M. E., & Behrens, T. E. (2011) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.014 · Cited by 1,111
A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect
Hagger, M. S., Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Anggono, C. O., Batailler, C., Birt, A. R., Brand, R., Brand, M., Brewer, G., Bruyneel, S. D., et al. (2016) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691616652873 · Cited by 1,097
What Is Ego Depletion? Toward a Mechanistic Revision of the Resource Model of Self-Control
Inzlicht, M., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2012) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691612454134 · Cited by 1,083
Cognitive neuroscience of self-regulation failure
Heatherton, T. F., & Wagner, D. D. (2011) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.12.005 · Cited by 1,033
BONNER, S. E., & Sprinkle, G. B. (2002) · Accounting Organizations and Society · doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(01)00052-6 · Cited by 1,018
Action sets and decisions in the medial frontal cortex
RUSHWORTH, M., WALTON, M., KENNERLEY, S., & BANNERMAN, D. (2004) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.07.009 · Cited by 1,004
A Contingency Model for the Selection of Decision Strategies
Beach, L. R., & Mitchell, T. R. (1978) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1978.4305717 · Cited by 973
Learned predictions of error likelihood in the anterior cingulate cortex
Brown, J. W., & Braver, T. S. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1105783 · Cited by 928
ACT: A simple theory of complex cognition.
Anderson, J. R. (1996) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.51.4.355 · Cited by 910
Motivation and cognitive control: from behavior to neural mechanism
Botvinick, M., & Braver, T. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015044 · Cited by 909
Self-citationThe Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention
Eastwood, J. D., Frischen, A., Fenske, M. J., & Smilek, D. (2012) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691612456044 · Cited by 909 · cited 1×
“dissociate from intensity-based control cost predictions—boredom has been proposed to instead be a reaction to low levels of information or arousal in certain environments (Eastwood et al. 2012; Geana et al. 2016a,b; Zakay 2014) and is therefore potentially more readily dissociated from control costs.”
BackgroundThe primacy model: A new model of immediate serial recall.
Page, M. P. A., & Norris, D. G. (1998) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.105.4.761-781 · Cited by 814
Functions of the Frontal Lobes: Relation to Executive Functions
Stuss, D. T. (2011) · Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · doi:10.1017/s1355617711000695 · Cited by 784
Ecological RationalityIntelligence in the World
Todd, P. M., & Gigerenzer, G. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315448.001.0001 · Cited by 763
Cowan, N. (2010) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203342398 · Cited by 750
Computational rationality: A converging paradigm for intelligence in brains, minds, and machines
Gershman, S. J., Horvitz, E., & Tenenbaum, J. B. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aac6076 · Cited by 722
A feature model of immediate memory
Nairne, J. S. (1990) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03213879 · Cited by 710
Cognitive effort: A neuroeconomic approach
Westbrook, A., & Braver, T. S. (2015) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-015-0334-y · Cited by 685
Behavioral and neural correlates of delay of gratification 40 years later
Casey, B. J., Somerville, L. H., Gotlib, I. H., Ayduk, O., Franklin, N. T., Askren, M. K., Jonides, J., Berman, M. G., Wilson, N. L., Teslovich, T., et al. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1108561108 · Cited by 683
Subthalamic nucleus stimulation reverses mediofrontal influence over decision threshold
Cavanagh, J. F., Wiecki, T. V., Cohen, M. X., Figueroa, C. M., Samanta, J., Sherman, S. J., & Frank, M. J. (2011) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2925 · Cited by 676
Hierarchically organized behavior and its neural foundations: A reinforcement learning perspective
Botvinick, M. M., Niv, Y., & Barto, A. G. (2009) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.08.011 · Cited by 646
Self-citationNeurophysiology of performance monitoring and adaptive behavior
Ullsperger, M., Danielmeier, C., & Jocham, G. (2014) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00041.2012 · Cited by 634
Conjoint activity of anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortex: awareness and response
Medford, N., & Critchley, H. D. (2010) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-010-0265-x · Cited by 627
Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the value of control
Shenhav, A., Cohen, J. D., & Botvinick, M. (2016) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.4384 · Cited by 624
Self-citationMotivation of extended behaviors by anterior cingulate cortex
Holroyd, C. B., & Yeung, N. (2012) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.12.008 · Cited by 618
On the Division of Attention: A Disproof of the Single Channel Hypothesis
Allport, D. A., Antonis, B., & Reynolds, P. (1972) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/00335557243000102 · Cited by 614
Westbrook, A., Kester, D., & Braver, T. S. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068210 · Cited by 597
Carter, E. C., Kofler, L. M., Forster, D. E., & McCullough, M. E. (2015) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/xge0000083 · Cited by 594
Motivation and cognitive control in the human prefrontal cortex
Kouneiher, F., Charron, S., & Koechlin, E. (2009) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2321 · Cited by 590
Caruana, R. (1998) · Learning to Learn · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-5529-2_5 · Cited by 577
Effort-Based Cost–Benefit Valuation and the Human Brain
Croxson, P. L., Walton, M. E., O'Reilly, J. X., Behrens, T. E. J., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2009) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4515-08.2009 · Cited by 560
Cognitive Psychology: New Directions
Dominowski, R. L., & Claxton, G. (1981) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1422262 · Cited by 553
Emotional foundations of cognitive control
Inzlicht, M., Bartholow, B. D., & Hirsh, J. B. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.01.004 · Cited by 542
Marcora, S. (2008) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.90378.2008 · Cited by 535
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex: A Bottom-Up View
Heilbronner, S. R., & Hayden, B. Y. (2016) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-070815-013952 · Cited by 503
Vul (2014) · doi:10.1111/cogs.12101 · Cited by 502
Self-citationSeparate Valuation Subsystems for Delay and Effort Decision Costs
Prévost, C., Pessiglione, M., Météreau, E., Cléry-Melin, M.-L., & Dreher, J.-C. (2010) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2752-10.2010 · Cited by 499
Gigerenzer, G. (2008) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195328981.001.0001 · Cited by 498
Varazzani, C., San‐Galli, A., Gilardeau, S., & Bouret, S. (2015) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0454-15.2015 · Cited by 482
Eisenberger, R. (1992) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.99.2.248 · Cited by 475
Jepma, M., & Nieuwenhuis, S. (2010) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2010.21548 · Cited by 473
Midcingulate cortex: Structure, connections, homologies, functions and diseases
Vogt, B. A. (2016) · Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy · doi:10.1016/j.jchemneu.2016.01.010 · Cited by 471
Conscious perception of errors and its relation to the anterior insula
Ullsperger, M., Harsay, H. A., Wessel, J. R., & Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2010) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-010-0261-1 · Cited by 463
Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex neurons mediate ongoing behavioural adaptation
Sheth, S. A., Mian, M. K., Patel, S. R., Asaad, W. F., Williams, Z. M., Dougherty, D. D., Bush, G., & Eskandar, E. N. (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11239 · Cited by 441
Griffiths, T. L., Lieder, F., & Goodman, N. D. (2015) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12142 · Cited by 434
Self-citationThe limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle?
Marcora, S., & Staiano, W. (2010) · European Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6 · Cited by 431
What limits working memory capacity?
Oberauer, K., Farrell, S., Jarrold, C., & Lewandowsky, S. (2016) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000046 · Cited by 416
The effects of neural gain on attention and learning
Eldar, E., Cohen, J. D., & Niv, Y. (2013) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3428 · Cited by 402
Self-citationSkill and automaticity: Relations, implications, and future directions.
Logan, G. D. (1985) · Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie · doi:10.1037/h0080066 · Cited by 382
A formal model of capacity limits in working memory
Oberauer, K., & Kliegl, R. M. (2006) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2006.08.009 · Cited by 369
Predicting Cognitive Control From Preschool to Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Eigsti, I.-M., Zayas, V., Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., Ayduk, O., Dadlani, M. B., Davidson, M. C., Aber, J. L., & Casey, B. J. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01732.x · Cited by 365
Russell, S., & Wefald, E. H. (1991) · Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/0004-3702(91)90015-c · Cited by 364
Effort discounting in human nucleus accumbens
Botvinick, M., Huffstetler, S., & McGuire, J. T. (2009) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/cabn.9.1.16 · Cited by 364
Self-citationReward Reduces Conflict by Enhancing Attentional Control and Biasing Visual Cortical Processing
Padmala, S., & Pessoa, L. (2011) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00011 · Cited by 362
Control-related systems in the human brain
Power, J. D., & Petersen, S. E. (2013) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2012.12.009 · Cited by 354
The Computational and Neural Basis of Cognitive Control: Charted Territory and New Frontiers
Botvinick, M., & Cohen, J. D. (2014) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12126 · Cited by 354
Self-citationMotor control is decision-making
Wolpert, D. M., & Landy, M. S. (2012) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2012.05.003 · Cited by 352
Salamone, J. D., Yohn, S. E., López-Cruz, L., San Miguel, N., & Correa, M. (2016) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/aww050 · Cited by 350
Frank, M. J., & Badre, D. (2011) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr114 · Cited by 340
Dopamine Does Double Duty in Motivating Cognitive Effort
Westbrook, A., & Braver, T. S. (2016) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.12.029 · Cited by 331
Neural mechanisms underlying motivation of mental versus physical effort
Schmidt, L., Lebreton, M., Cléry-Melin, M.-L., Daunizeau, J., & Pessiglione, M. (2012) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001266 · Cited by 310
Prefrontal cortex, cognitive control, and the registration of decision costs
McGuire, J. T., & Botvinick, M. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0910662107 · Cited by 309
Self-citationA motivational control theory of cognitive fatigue.
Hockey, G. R. J. (2010) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/12343-008 · Cited by 307
Cohen, J. D. (2005) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/089533005775196750 · Cited by 304
Self-citationEngelmann, J. B. (2009) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/neuro.09.004.2009 · Cited by 300
Task-switching: positive and negative priming of task-set
Allport, A., & Wylie, G. R. (1999) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198524694.003.0016 · Cited by 298
Thermodynamics as a theory of decision-making with information-processing costs
Ortega, P. A., & Braun, D. A. (2013) · Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspa.2012.0683 · Cited by 279
Dopamine, behavioral economics, and effort
Salamone, J. D. (2009) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/neuro.08.013.2009 · Cited by 277
The influence of reward associations on conflict processing in the Stroop task
Krebs, R. M., Boehler, C. N., & Woldorff, M. G. (2010) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.08.018 · Cited by 271
Psychobiology of Physical Activity
Acevedo, E. O., Panteleimon Ekkekakis, A., & Backhouse, S. H. (2007) · Sport & Exercise Psychology Review · doi:10.53841/bpssepr.2007.3.2.51 · Cited by 267
Motivational Versus Metabolic Effects of Carbohydrates on Self-Control
Molden, D. C., Hui, C. M., Scholer, A. A., Meier, B. P., Noreen, E. E., D’Agostino, P. R., & Martin, V. (2012) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612439069 · Cited by 261
The will to persevere Induced by electrical stimulation of the human cingulate gyrus
Parvizi, J., Rangarajan, V., Shirer, W. R., Desai, N., & Greicius, M. D. (2013) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.10.057 · Cited by 254
Nicola, S. M. (2010) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3958-10.2010 · Cited by 253
Provably Bounded-Optimal Agents
Russell, S. J., & Subramanian, D. (1995) · Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research · doi:10.1613/jair.133 · Cited by 252
Womelsdorf, T., Johnston, K., Vinck, M. A., & Everling, S. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0906194107 · Cited by 250
Computational Rationality: Linking Mechanism and Behavior Through Bounded Utility Maximization
Lewis, R. L., Howes, A., & Singh, S. P. (2014) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12086 · Cited by 246
Dissociable cost and benefit encoding of future rewards by mesolimbic dopamine
Gan, J. O., Walton, M. E., & Phillips, P. E. M. (2009) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2460 · Cited by 244
Surprise and Error: Common Neuronal Architecture for the Processing of Errors and Novelty
Wessel, J. R., Danielmeier, C., Morton, J. B., & Ullsperger, M. (2012) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.6352-11.2012 · Cited by 237
Conflicts as Aversive Signals for Control Adaptation
Dreisbach, G., & Fischer, R. (2015) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721415569569 · Cited by 221
Effortless control: Executive attention and conscious feeling of mental effort are dissociable
Naccache, L., Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., Habert, M.-O., Guichart-Gomez, E., Galanaud, D., & Willer, J.-C. (2005) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.11.024 · Cited by 211
Hierarchical control over effortful behavior by rodent medial frontal cortex: A computational model.
Holroyd, C. B., & McClure, S. M. (2014) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0038339 · Cited by 199
Models of verbal working memory capacity: What does it take to make them work?
Cowan, N., Rouder, J. N., Blume, C. L., & Saults, J. S. (2012) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0027791 · Cited by 187
The research domain criteria framework: The case for anterior cingulate cortex
Holroyd, C. B., & Umemoto, A. (2016) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.021 · Cited by 187
Disrupting the Supplementary Motor Area Makes Physical Effort Appear Less Effortful
Zénon, A., Sidibe, M., & Olivier, E. (2015) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3789-14.2015 · Cited by 181
Reduction of Metabolic Cost during Motor Learning of Arm Reaching Dynamics
Huang, H. J., Kram, R., & Ahmed, A. A. (2012) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4003-11.2012 · Cited by 181
Cai, W., Chen, T., Ryali, S., Kochalka, J., Li, C. R., & Menon, V. (2015) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv046 · Cited by 177
Neural mechanisms underlying the impact of daylong cognitive work on economic decisions
Blain, B., Hollard, G., & Pessiglione, M. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1520527113 · Cited by 170
Hosking, J. G., Floresco, S., & Winstanley, C. A. (2014) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2014.285 · Cited by 168
The costs and benefits of brain dopamine for cognitive control
Cools, R. (2016) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Cognitive Science · doi:10.1002/wcs.1401 · Cited by 164
Individual Differences in Premotor Brain Systems Underlie Behavioral Apathy
Bonnelle, V., Manohar, S., Behrens, T., & Husain, M. (2015) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv247 · Cited by 163
The Anterior Cingulate and Error Avoidance
Magno, E., Foxe, J. J., Molholm, S., Robertson, I. H., & Garavan, H. (2006) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0369-06.2006 · Cited by 162
Aarts, E., Roelofs, A., Franke, B., Rijpkema, M., Fernández, G., Helmich, R. C., & Cools, R. (2010) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2010.68 · Cited by 157
Hillman, K. L., & Bilkey, D. K. (2010) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1273-10.2010 · Cited by 157
Compensatory Neural Activity in Response to Cognitive Fatigue
Wang, C., Trongnetrpunya, A., Samuel, I. B. H., Ding, M., & Kluger, B. M. (2016) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3652-15.2016 · Cited by 153
Dixon, M. L., & Kalina Christoff, A. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051637 · Cited by 152
Neural Communication Patterns Underlying Conflict Detection, Resolution, and Adaptation
Oehrn, C. R., Hanslmayr, S., Fell, J., Deuker, L., Kremers, N. A. W., Lam, A. T. D., Elger, C. E., & Axmacher, N. (2014) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3099-13.2014 · Cited by 145
Evidence for a close relationship between conscious effort and anterior cingulate cortex activity
Mulert, C., Menzinger, E., Leicht, G., Pogarell, O., & Hegerl, U. (2005) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2004.10.002 · Cited by 144
Spunt, R. P., Lieberman, M. D., Cohen, J. R., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2012) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00242 · Cited by 141
Self-citationPsychological time as information: the case of boredom†
Zakay, D. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00917 · Cited by 140
Reinhart, R. M. G., & Woodman, G. F. (2014) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5421-13.2014 · Cited by 134
Motivation and Cognitive Control
Saunders, B., & Inzlicht, M. (2015) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315656878 · Cited by 133
Neural effects of mental fatigue caused by continuous attention load: A magnetoencephalography study
Tanaka, M., Ishii, A., & Watanabe, Y. (2014) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2014.03.009 · Cited by 130
Kaping, D., Vinck, M. A., Hutchison, R. M., Everling, S., & Womelsdorf, T. (2011) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001224 · Cited by 124
Alexander, W. H., & Brown, J. W. (2015) · Neural Computation · doi:10.1162/neco_a_00779 · Cited by 119
Adaptive effort investment in cognitive and physical tasks: A neurocomputational model
Verguts, T., Vassena, E., & Silvetti, M. (2015) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00057 · Cited by 118
Cognitive effort avoidance and detection in people with schizophrenia
Gold, J. M., Kool, W., Botvinick, M., Hubzin, L., August, S. M., & Waltz, J. A. (2014) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-014-0308-5 · Cited by 109
Self-citationFeng, S. F., Schwemmer, M. A., Gershman, S. J., & Cohen, J. D. (2014) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-013-0236-9 · Cited by 108
Self-citationThe Bitter Truth About Sugar and Willpower
Vadillo, M. A., Gold, N., & Osman, M. (2016) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797616654911 · Cited by 107
Conflict acts as an implicit cost in reinforcement learning
Cavanagh, J. F., Masters, S. E., Bath, K. G., & Frank, M. J. (2014) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms6394 · Cited by 105
Visual Short-Term Memory Compared in Rhesus Monkeys and Humans
Elmore, L. C., Ma, W. J., Magnotti, J. F., Leising, K. J., Passaro, A. D., Katz, J. S., & Wright, A. A. (2011) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.04.031 · Cited by 104
Calculating the Cost of Acting in Frontal Cortex
Walton, M. E., Rudebeck, P. H., Bannerman, D. M., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2007) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1196/annals.1390.009 · Cited by 102
Desender, K., Filip Van Opstal, A., & den Bussche, E. V. (2014) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613511468 · Cited by 100
Cognitive cost as dynamic allocation of energetic resources
Christie, S. T., & Schrater, P. (2015) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00289 · Cited by 99
Limited Encoding of Effort by Dopamine Neurons in a Cost–Benefit Trade-off Task
Pasquereau, B., & Turner, R. S. (2013) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4619-12.2013 · Cited by 97
Monitoring demands for executive control: shared functions between human and nonhuman primates
Mansouri, F. A., Egner, T., & Buckley, M. J. (2017) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2016.11.001 · Cited by 89
Burn-in, bias, and the rationality of anchoring
Lieder, F., Griffiths, T. L., & Goodman, N. D. (2012) · Cited by 78
Self-citationError-Likelihood Prediction in the Medial Frontal Cortex: A Critical Evaluation
Nieuwenhuis, S., Schweizer, T. S., Mars, R. B., Botvinick, M., & Hajcak, G. (2006) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhl068 · Cited by 75
Self-citationGarner, K., & Dux, P. E. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1511423112 · Cited by 75
Information, Utility and Bounded Rationality
Ortega, D. A., & Braun, P. A. (2011) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-22887-2_28 · Cited by 73
Saunders, B., Milyavskaya, M., & Inzlicht, M. (2015) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.12454 · Cited by 64
Elkins‐Brown, N., Saunders, B., & Inzlicht, M. (2015) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.12556 · Cited by 64
Shen, C., Ardid, S., Kaping, D., Westendorff, S., Everling, S., & Womelsdorf, T. (2014) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu028 · Cited by 61
Task-specific effects of reward on task switching
Umemoto, A., & Holroyd, C. B. (2014) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-014-0595-z · Cited by 52
Irrational time allocation in decision-making
Oud, B., Krajbich, I. M., Miller, K. J., Cheong, J. H., Botvinick, M., & Fehr, E. (2016) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.1439 · Cited by 51
Self-citationSelecting Computations: Theory and ApplicationsPreprint
Hay, N., Russell, S., Tolpin, D., & Shimony, S. E. (2012) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1207.5879 · Cited by 51
Cascade of neural processing orchestrates cognitive control in human frontal cortex
Tang, H., Yu, H., Chou, C., Crone, N. E., Madsen, J. R., Anderson, W. S., & Kreiman, G. (2016) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.12352 · Cited by 44
Algorithm selection by rational metareasoning as a model of human strategy selection
Lieder, F., Plunkett, D., Hamrick, J. B., Russell, S., Hay, N., & Griffiths, T. L. (2014) · doi:10.13140/2.1.2563.1686 · Cited by 41
Self-citationThe subthalamic nucleus during decision‐making with multiple alternatives
Keuken, M. C., van Maanen, L., Bogacz, R., Schäfer, A., Neumann, J., Turner, R., & Forstmann, B. U. (2015) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.22896 · Cited by 40
When to use which heuristic: A rational solution to the strategy selection problem
Lieder, F., & Griffiths, T. L. (2015) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.28760.42241 · Cited by 33
Self-citationMusslick, S., Dey, B., Özcimder, K., Patwary, M. M. A., Willke, T. L., & Cohen, J. D. (2016) · Cognitive Science · Cited by 29
Self-citationThe evolution and devolution of cognitive control: The costs of deliberation in a competitive world
Tomlin, D., Rand, D. G., Ludvig, E. A., & Cohen, J. D. (2015) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep11002 · Cited by 28
Self-citationSpeed of information processing and population differences
Jensen, A. R. (1988) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511574603.005 · Cited by 23
Helping people make better decisions using optimal gamification
Lieder, F., & Griffiths, T. L. (2016) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.18694.09289 · Cited by 15
Self-citationGeana, A., Wilson, R. C., Daw, N. D., & Cohen, J. (2016) · Cognitive Science · Cited by 6
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 11
- Allport DA, 1994, Attention and Performance XV: Conscious and Nonconscious Information Processing, 421
- 10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252 · DOI · Paper page
- Bonnelle V, 2015, Cereb. Cortex, 26, 807
- Dunn TL, 2016, J. Exp. Psychol., 42, 1372
- Geana A, 2016, Proc. 38th Annu. Conf. Cogn. Sci. Soc., Philadelphia, 1751
- Kahneman D, 1973, Attention and Effort
- Musslick S, 2016, Parallel processing capability versus efficiency of representation in neural networks
- Musslick S, 2015, A computational model of control allocation based on the expected value of control
- Sternberg S, 1969, Am. Sci., 57, 421
- Todd MT, 2009, Adv. Neural Inf. Process. Syst., 21, 1689
- Wickens DD, 1984, Varieties of Attention, 63
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Pupil dilation as an index of effort in cognitive control tasks: A review
van der Wel, P., & van Steenbergen, H. (2018) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-018-1432-y · Cited by 1,055
Lieder, F., & Griffiths, T. L. (2020) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x1900061x · Cited by 892
Self-citationThe Effort Paradox: Effort Is Both Costly and Valued
Inzlicht, M., Shenhav, A., & Olivola, C. Y. (2018) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.01.007 · Cited by 977
Self-citationCommunication dynamics in complex brain networks
Avena-Koenigsberger, A., Misic, B., & Sporns, O. (2018) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn.2017.149 · Cited by 856
Locus coeruleus: a new look at the blue spot
Poe, G. R., Foote, S., Eschenko, O., Johansen, J. P., Bouret, S., Aston-Jones, G., Harley, C. W., Manahan-Vaughan, D., Weinshenker, D., Valentino, R., et al. (2020) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/s41583-020-0360-9 · Cited by 720
Metadata
- Authors
- Shenhav, A., Musslick, S., Lieder, F., Kool, W., Griffiths, T. L., Cohen, J. D., & Botvinick, M. M.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Google DeepMind (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Shenhav, Amitai
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annual Review of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2017-07-25
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 99-124
- ISSN
- 0147-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4126
- OpenAlex
- W2600886565
- Cited by
- 1,077
- References
- 196
- Citations by year
- 2026: 124 · 2025: 122 · 2024: 149 · 2023: 117 · 2022: 123 · 2021: 124 · 2020: 112 · 2019: 117 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 23
- FWCI
- 9.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Free Will and Agency
- Keywords
- cognitive effort, cognitive control, effort cost, cognitive resource allocation, aversive experience, cognitive limitations
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Decision Making, Humans, Motivation, Reward, Prefrontal Cortex, Executive Function
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
