Oliver Ralley

Why do we have an experience of effort when we perform certain mental tasks? On this poster I present a novel theory that provides an account of how and why the experience of mental effort arises, why it is a conscious phenomenon and why it has its peculiar phenomenology. Crucially, this theory states that the experience of effort is the conscious aspect of a brain state that functions to enable sustained attempts at demanding tasks. This concept stems from observations that the experience of effort occurs when subjects perform tasks that are, in various ways, resource-demanding. I develop the view that, because the performance of a resource-demanding task is likely to carry significant costs, an accompanying process of monitoring and analysis of the estimated costs and benefits of continued task-oriented activity occurs. I propose that, in these circumstances, subjects must deploy a high level of cognitive control in order to maintain motivation to continue the given activity, rather than discontinuing it or switching to an alternative activity. In doing so, a brain state arises that is characterised by the performance of a higher order task that enables the continued performance of a given lower order task. I call this state an ‘effort state,’ and conjecture that effort states are the defining correlates of the experience of effort. I then make two arguments in support of this view. First, I outline how effort states seem to provide the required conditions for instantiating consciousness, in accordance with leading theories of consciousness. Second, I argue that effort states help to explain the phenomenology of the experience of effort because they are, in a sense, mixed affective states, by virtue of them involving simultaneous representations of both costs and benefits. I conclude by highlighting that the experience of effort is a key component of human agency and a fascinating phenomenal type in its own right. Accordingly, I hope that this theory contributes to a deeper understanding of this important subject and provides useful conceptual underpinnings for future research.

I am a medical doctor based in London UK. I trained in Medicine at the University of Manchester and hold a degree in Philosophy from King's College London. Since my student years I have maintained a strong interest in both mental disorder and the science of consciousness, and am currently performing theoretical work on the experience of mental effort - a fascinating and under-explored phenomenal type in its own right and a key feature in the symptomatology of many mental disorders.