Why put in the effort if there is nothing to learn?

Cognitive effort avoidance is an intuitive concept, especially when faced with the demands of academic programs. However, as all academics would appreciate, many of us continue to persist in our specialized fields despite this challenge. This paradox led to the research question whether all effort is created equal.

In a recent study, Ceyda Sayalı, Emma Heling and Roshan Cools found that people tend to be in a state of flow when cognitively challenging tasks offer an opportunity for learning. The research group at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (DCCN), published their results in Cognition in March, 2023.

In this novel paradigm, researchers first determined each individual’s capacity for task performance and used difficulty levels that were low, intermediate challenging, or high for each individual. They also calculated the trial-by-trial changes in task performance as a marker of learning progress. They showed that tasks that are challenging but within the capacity limits of the individual resulted in greater learning progress than tasks that were below an individual’s capacity. Participants reported a greater sense of flow for challenging tasks, and the link between the sense of flow and task challenge was partially explained by learning progress. As a putative measure of objective task engagement, pupil size tracked subjective flow scores, suggesting that task engagement and cognitive effort are linked and mediated by the dynamic range of changes in task performance.

The results of this study suggest that when people engage in challenging tasks that are optimal for their capacity, they experience greater room for progress, which may make them feel that the challenging task is no longer aversive. On the other hand, tasks that are too easy or impossible to master may feel aversive as they may not provide a learning opportunity. This approach can help individuals to persist in challenging activities and achieve their goals without feeling overwhelmed or bored. Overall, understanding the psychology of effort and learning can help people optimize their performance and improve their academic success and well-being.

Read the study here: Sayalı, C., Heling, E., & Cools, R. (2023). Learning progress mediates the link between cognitive effort and task engagement. Cognition, 236, 105418.