Fleming, Hugo Alexander;
(2022)
Investigating cognitive effort and its role in control over Pavlovian bias.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Effort is a key determinant of cognitive performance, particularly for processes involving cognitive control – without it, performance may be slow, inaccurate or biased. Related to this, decreased ability to exert effort has been implicated in the symptoms of conditions including depression and anxiety. In this thesis I investigate the role of effort in the specific case of control over Pavlovian biases. In the first two experimental chapters I examine whether Pavlovian biases are in principle modifiable, a necessary precondition for demonstrating that they are also controllable. Following a simple programme of behavioural training, participants showed reduced influence of Pavlovian biases on behaviour, a result which is consistent with increased cognitive control. In the third experimental chapter, I present a new task for measuring cognitive effort sensitivity, suitable in particular for individual differences research. Subsequently, in the final experimental chapter, I use this task to test directly the hypothesis that the strength of Pavlovian bias is influenced by effortful cognitive control. I present initial evidence that indeed willingness to exert effort and the strength of Pavlovian biases seem to be negatively correlated, while effort also seems to be negatively associated with both depression and anxiety symptoms. Finally, in a standalone theoretical chapter, I discuss the rationale for effort costs, which currently are not well understood; I introduce and extend two existing ideas from outside of neuroscience which I think may be informative in this regard. Overall this thesis extends our understanding of the link between effort and control, suggesting in particular that the expression of Pavlovian biases can be framed in terms of effort-based decision-making. Additionally, by introducing fresh ideas about the basis of cognitive effort costs, it is hoped that this thesis will provide stronger foundations on which experimental research on cognitive effort can be built in the future.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Investigating cognitive effort and its role in control over Pavlovian bias |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author's request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10153403 |
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