Test motivation has been suggested to strongly influence low-stakes intelligence scores, with for instance, a recent meta-analysis of monetary incentive effects suggesting an average 9.6 IQ point impact (d = 0.64). Effects of such magnitude would have important implications for the predictive validity of intelligence tests. We report six studies (N = 4208) investigating the association and potential causal link of effort on cognitive performance. In three tests of the association of motivation with cognitive test scores we find a positive, but modest linear association of scores with reported effort (N = 3007: r ~ 0.28). In three randomized control tests of the effects of monetary incentive on test scores (total N = 1201), incentive effects were statistically non-significant in each study, showed no dose dependency, and jointly indicated an effect one quarter the size previously estimated (d = 0.166). These results suggest that, in neurotypical adults, individual differences in test motivation have, on average, a negligible influence on intelligence test performance. (≈ 2.5 IQ points). The association between test motivation and test performance likely partly reflects differences in ability, and subjective effort partly reflects outcome expectations.

有人建议测试动机强烈影响低风险智力分数，例如，最近对金钱激励效应的荟萃分析表明平均 9.6 智商点影响（d  = 0.64）。如此巨大的影响将对智力测试的预测有效性产生重要影响。我们报告了六项研究 ( N  = 4208)，调查了努力对认知表现的关联和潜在的因果关系。在动机与认知测试分数关联的三个测试中，我们发现分数与报告的努力之间存在积极但适度的线性关联（N  = 3007：r  ~ 0.28）。在金钱激励对考试成绩影响的三个随机对照测试中（总N = 1201），在每项研究中，激励效应在统计上不显着，没有剂量依赖性，并且联合表明效应是先前估计的四分之一（d  = 0.166）。这些结果表明，在神经典型的成年人中，测试动机的个体差异平均对智力测试表现的影响可以忽略不计。（≈ 2.5 IQ 点）。考试动机和考试成绩之间的关联可能部分反映了能力的差异，而主观努力部分反映了结果预期。