The present research was designed to test whether the subjective experience of more effort related to more reward valuation as measured by a neural response. This prediction was derived from the theory of cognitive dissonance and its effort justification paradigm. Young adult participants (n = 82) engaged in multiple trails of a low or high effort task that resulted in a loss or reward on each trial. Neural responses to the reward (loss) cue were measured using EEG so that the event-related potential known as the Reward Positivity (RewP) could be assessed. Results revealed no significant differences between low and high effort conditions on the RewP. However, within the high effort condition, a more subjective experience of effort was associated with a larger RewP. This research extends past research on the effort justification paradigm of cognitive dissonance theory by suggesting that effort justification is associated with an implicit measure of reward valuation. It, therefore, challenges recent perspectives on dissonance processes that posit that these evaluative changes should only occur on explicit but not implicit measures.

中文翻译：

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感知努力对奖励评估的影响：将奖励积极性 (RewP) 应用于不和谐理论

本研究旨在测试更多努力的主观体验是否与通过神经反应衡量的更多奖励评估有关。这一预测源自认知失调理论及其努力理由范式。年轻的成年参与者 (n = 82) 进行了多次低强度或高强度任务，导致每次试验都有损失或奖励。使用 EEG 测量对奖励（损失）线索的神经反应，以便可以评估称为奖励积极性 (RewP) 的事件相关潜力。结果显示，在 RewP 上，低努力和高努力条件之间没有显着差异。然而，在高努力条件下，更主观的努力体验与更大的 RewP 相关。这项研究扩展了过去对认知失调理论的努力正当性范式的研究，通过表明努力正当性与奖励估值的隐性度量相关联。因此，它挑战了最近关于不和谐过程的观点，这些观点认为这些评估变化应该只发生在显性而不是隐性措施上。