Does Caffeine Increase People’s Tendency to Avoid Cognitive Effort?

Velde, Jesse van der (2025) Does Caffeine Increase People’s Tendency to Avoid Cognitive Effort? Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine whether caffeine increases an individual’s tendency to avoid cognitive effort. A deceptive single-blind within-subjects design was used, with eleven participants completing a Cognitive Effort Discounting task on two occasions: once after consuming 250 mg of caffeine, and once after 250 mg of a lactose placebo. Participants completed four levels of the well-known N-back working memory task (1- to 4-back), followed by a choice task in which they made repeated choices between a less demanding task for a lower, and a more demanding task for a higher reward. The choices provided three Indifference Points (IPs), indicating a participants’ tendency to avoid or engage cognitively demanding levels. In addition, objective (reaction time, accuracy) and subjective (mental demand, effort) measures were recorded. Contrary to the hypothesis, caffeine had no significant effect on IPs or interaction with N-back level. Manipulation checks of the N-back showed that, while participants subjectively experienced the N-back levels as increasingly difficult, objective measures of performance did not reveal differences between the N-back levels. This indicates the N-back failed to effectively manipulate the working memory-load. Methodological limitations, such as a small sample size, lack of recorded single choice data, and potential task design flaws, may have affected the results. Future research should aim to examine caffeine’s influence on cognitive effort with a larger sample size and robust task manipulations to better understand the effects. Keywords: caffeine, cognitive effort, effort avoidance, working memory, N-back

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Lorist, M.M.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	16 Jul 2025 14:16
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2025 14:16
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5582

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