Wagner Danika, Eastwood John D
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Sep 26;20(9):e0332505. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0332505. eCollection 2025.
Using mental effort to engage in cognitively demanding tasks is associated with a conscious experience, and this experience serves as a regulatory mechanism. However, important issues remain in our understanding and measurement of the experience of mental effort. For example, essential questions about how person- and task-based factors influence the experience remain unanswered. This study explored how the experience of task-elicited effort and volitionally exerted effort during a continuous performance task (CPT) are associated with person-based (i.e., trait inattention and hyperactivity) and task-based (i.e., manipulations in interstimulus intervals) factors. Participants reported levels of trait inattention and hyperactivity and were randomly assigned to one of three CPT ISI conditions (1000, 3000, or 6000 ms) and provided mid-task ratings of their experience of task-elicited and volitionally exerted mental effort. Both person- and task-based factors were associated with these distinct facets of the experience of mental effort. Several direct relationships exist between trait inattention and hyperactivity, mental effort components, and performance outcomes. However, only one of four moderated mediation models revealed a significant indirect effect: volitionally exerted brain power significantly mediated the relationship between trait inattention and hyperactivity and commission error rates, moderated by task condition with the strongest effect in the 6000 ms ISI. No moderated mediation effects emerged for task-elicited mental effort or latency outcomes. Recognizing that individual differences and task demands result in differing experiences of mental effort which, in turn, predict task performance, is an essential step in tailoring activities and interventions.
运用脑力从事认知要求较高的任务与一种有意识的体验相关联，并且这种体验充当一种调节机制。然而，在我们对脑力体验的理解和测量方面仍存在重要问题。例如，关于基于个体和任务的因素如何影响这种体验的关键问题仍未得到解答。本研究探讨了在持续操作任务（CPT）期间，任务引发的努力体验和自主施加的努力体验如何与基于个体的因素（即特质性注意力不集中和多动）以及基于任务的因素（即刺激间隔的操纵）相关联。参与者报告了特质性注意力不集中和多动的程度，并被随机分配到三种CPT刺激间隔条件（1000、3000或6000毫秒）之一，并在任务进行过程中对任务引发的和自主施加的脑力努力体验进行评分。基于个体和任务的因素都与脑力努力体验的这些不同方面相关联。特质性注意力不集中和多动、脑力努力成分以及绩效结果之间存在几种直接关系。然而，四个调节中介模型中只有一个显示出显著的间接效应：自主施加的脑力显著中介了特质性注意力不集中和多动与错误率之间的关系，任务条件起到调节作用，在6000毫秒刺激间隔时效果最强。对于任务引发的脑力努力或反应时结果，未出现调节中介效应。认识到个体差异和任务需求会导致不同的脑力努力体验，进而预测任务表现，这是定制活动和干预措施的关键一步。
