Effort choices are sensitive to prior learning

Abstract

Goal directed behaviour requires the integration of learned beliefs about the world with decisions about whether an outcome is worth the effort required to obtain it. Although value learning and effort-based choice are central to motivated behaviour, they are typically examined in isolation. Here we introduce a novel behavioural paradigm that directly links probabilistic associative learning with effortful decision making, for the first time allowing trial by trial assessment of how learned beliefs guide willingness to exert effort. In a large sample of participants (n=252), individuals reliably acquired stimulus-outcome associations but showed substantial variability in learning fidelity. Effort allocation was not determined by objective reward probabilities, but was better predicted by participants subjective beliefs, demonstrating that effortful action depends on internal value representations rather than external contingencies alone. Reward and loss contexts showed asymmetric effects on effort motivation, revealing a valence specific dissociation in belief driven action. Critically, higher levels of anhedonia were associated with reduced willingness to engage in effortful behaviour and a weaker coupling between learned value and action, indicating a disruption in the integration of belief and motivation. Together, these findings identify a mechanistic link between learning and effort expenditure and suggest that motivational impairments in psychiatric symptoms may arise from failures to translate learned value into action.