CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Neuropsychologia. 2022 Aug 13;173:108314. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108314. Epub 2022 Jul 4.
Life is filled with uncertainty that imposes challenges for goal-directed effort. For example, whether effort reaps reward impacts the effort process. Real-life activities involve a long-term input of effort, implying that our effort process should be stably and consistently managed. The present study investigated how efficacy modulates the effort process from the perspective of overall performance and effort stability. Using a mini-block Stroop task and electroencephalography, we manipulated performance-reward contingency to pinpoint behavioral and neural features at each time stage (preparation, execution, and feedback-processing). Our findings revealed an efficacy-modulated effort process from three aspects. First, high efficacy induced a more prepared state before target presentation, which was identified by two neural indicators: contingent negative variation (CNV) and β oscillation (13-20 Hz). Then, drift rate and decision boundary reflected how people executed the task under different efficacy levels. Moreover, CNV and β oscillation affected sustained effort by modulating the drift rate, indicating preparatory state changed the execution to influence sustained effort. Finally, feedback-P3b captured shifts in the sustained effort after receiving different feedback. Taken together, these findings showed that efficacy modulates effort at each time course. Informative signals about efficacy and feedback are beneficial to trigger high-quality preparation and execution and drive effort adjustment.
生活充满了不确定性，这给目标导向的努力带来了挑战。例如，努力是否会得到回报会影响努力的过程。现实生活中的活动涉及长期的努力投入，这意味着我们的努力过程应该稳定且持续地进行管理。本研究从整体表现和努力稳定性的角度探讨了效能如何调节努力过程。使用微型 Stroop 任务和脑电图，我们操纵了绩效-奖励关联性，以在每个时间阶段（准备、执行和反馈处理）确定行为和神经特征。我们的研究结果从三个方面揭示了效能调节的努力过程。首先，高效能在目标呈现前诱导出更准备的状态，这可以通过两个神经指标来识别：条件性负变（CNV）和β振荡（13-20 Hz）。然后，漂移率和决策边界反映了人们在不同效能水平下执行任务的情况。此外，CNV 和β振荡通过调节漂移率影响持续努力，表明准备状态改变了执行方式，从而影响了持续努力。最后，反馈后的 P3b 捕获了在接收到不同反馈后的持续努力的变化。总之，这些发现表明效能在每个时间进程中都调节着努力。关于效能和反馈的信息信号有助于引发高质量的准备和执行，并推动努力的调整。
