Perceived fatigue does not alter effort-based decision making but does undermine confidence in the ability to perform physical actions, 2024, Dekerle+

Full author list: Aaron Greenhouse-Tucknott, James G. Wrightson, Sam Berens, Jeanne Dekerle, Neil A. Harrison

Highlights

• Feeling fatigued doesn't alter effort-based choices
• Physical state may define effort costs appraised during decisions
• Feeling fatigue reduces confidence and increases uncertainty in performance capacity

Abstract

Fatigue may affect the decision to deploy effort (cost) for a given rewarded outcome (benefit). However, it remains unclear whether these fatigue-associated changes can be attributed to simply feeling fatigued.

To investigate this question, twenty-two healthy males made a series of choices between two rewarded options: a fixed, no effort option, where no physical effort was required to obtain a set, low reward vs. a variable, effortful option, in which both the physical effort requirements (i.e. different durations of a sustained contraction performed in the lower limbs) and rewards (i.e. greater monetary incentives) was varied. Effort-based choices were made under two conditions: 1) a rested (control) state, (2) a pre-induced state of perceived fatigue, evoked through physical exertion in the upper-limbs, thus controlling for the physical manifestation of fatigue (i.e. decline in muscular force production) on the decision process.

Though prior physical exertion increased the perception of fatigue, participants choice behaviour did not significantly differ between control and fatigue conditions. Across both conditions, participants demonstrated an anticipated aversion to effort, with greater effort requirements reducing the decision to engage in actions associated with higher rewards. However, in the fatigue state only, decision time was prolonged and self-reported confidence in individuals’ ability to perform high effort actions was reduced.

The findings suggest that a perceived state of fatigue does not necessarily alter cost/benefit comparisons within effort-based decisions, but may introduce greater uncertainty within choice and reduce self-confidence. These findings evidence altered evaluative processes during decision making under conditions of fatigue.

Paywall, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938424003408
Previous preprint, https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/pf2jy

 

Can't really see how any of this nonsense bears any relation to reality when the vast majority of efforts people need to make on a daily basis involve no rewards, they're mostly things we have to do and many of them are explicitly unrewarding.

Maybe in some alternative reality where everything is gamified and we're all basically 6 year-olds, but that's not the reality we live in. Artificial scenarios don't extend into reality.

 

This finding might be common sense, but it certainly contradicts the whole "fatigue is a stop signal" nonsense.