Time allocation and meta-cognition: A computational approach towards the organization of motivation
2019-01
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Time allocation and meta-cognition: A computational approach towards the organization of motivation
Authors
Published Date
2019-01
Publisher
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
Abstract
How do people allocate time and effort across tasks? This dissertation takes a computational psychology perspective, and puts forward the theory that motivation solves the meta-cognitive problem of allocating resources to different tasks by computing task priority. Motivation research has previously distinguished between two dissociable components of motivation: directing and energizing. These two components refer to different resources that must be allocated: time and effort. We explore the way humans allocate effort by taking advantage of simple decision making tasks and manipulating either task or background information. We develop a novel method that allows researchers to integrate an array of biometrics that capture how decision processes are modulated. We then extend work from optimal foraging theory to account for human tasks in order to analyze how humans allocate time. We derive various results that match time use behavior across domains. Finally, we apply the structural implications of this theory to make predictions in large scale time use data sets. Humans must often schedule mutually exclusive goals to fulfill mutually exclusive needs, which requires us to allocate time across tasks via a priority computation. Re-framing motivation from a resource allocation perspective, and highlighting the unique problem of time allocation, has implications across human decision making behavior, and we demonstrate its relevance in multiple domains.
Description
University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.January 2019. Major: Psychology. Advisor: Paul Schrater. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 266 pages.
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Mussack, Dominic. (2019). Time allocation and meta-cognition: A computational approach towards the organization of motivation. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/213090.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.