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Similar factors predict cognitive effort preferences when working for rewards vs. avoiding losses

Poster Session D - Monday, March 9, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Brandon J Forys¹ (), Nicholas Moise¹, Rebecca M Todd¹, Catharine A Winstanley¹; ¹University of British Columbia

In everyday life, we must work for rewards while avoiding often-unpredictable losses. For example, we need to attend to multiple options when choosing an investment to avoid losing money. Human research suggests that cognitive ability explains whether people choose high-effort, high-reward choices when effort demands remain static, together with perceived stress and problem-solving preferences when demands shift. However, these experiments have typically examined effort expended for rewards rather than to avoid losses. As stress can enhance loss sensitivity, we wanted to determine whether these factors still predict effort choices when framed in terms of gains vs. losses. Here, we used a visual short-term memory task to examine factors predicting high vs. low effort choices for varying reward or loss levels. On each trial, undergraduate participants (nHigh Effort = 191, nLow Effort = 70, NFemale = 209, NMale = 47, MAge = 20.55, RangeAge = 17-48) chose to deploy more effort for a higher reward, or less effort for a smaller reward. On win trials, failures result in not earning points; on loss trials, failures result in losing points. Between blocks, either the outcome amount on low-effort trials or effort requirements for high-effort trials increased. We found that visual short-term memory ability, chronic stress levels, and everyday effort preferences predicted more high-effort choices on both win and loss trials, with no difference between win and loss trials in the outcome amount motivating effort switches. These results show that similar motivational factors underpin trade-offs in reward-seeking and loss-avoidance given shifting effort demands.

Topic Area: THINKING: Decision making