Subjective (dis)utility of effort: mentally and physically demanding tasks

Ackerman, Phillip L.; Tatel, Corey E.; Lyndgaard, Sibley F.

doi:10.1186/s41235-020-00226-5

Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications

Table 2 Multidimensional scaling (3D) of similarity judgment items (ordered by attractiveness/aversiveness, from preference judgments)

From: Subjective (dis)utility of effort: mentally and physically demanding tasks

				MDS solution
Abbreviation	Item		Attractiveness/aversiveness	I	II	III
pool	82	Playing pool (billiards)	20.05	.070	−1.116	−.056
tetris	68	Playing a Tetris-type game	22.77	.165	−.977	−.116
jigsaw	47	Assembling a complex jigsaw picture puzzle	24.56	.551	−.512	−.329
sudoku	30	Completing Sudoku puzzles	27.40	.571	−.561	−.068
chess	100	Playing chess	28.55	.760	−.679	−.038
vacplan	123	Planning a vacation (i.e., comparing prices and routes for airline travel and hotels)	33.22	.515	.801	−.381
prog4th	79	Programming a robot for a 4th grade class demonstration	36.36	1.107	−.192	−.401
readNYT	18	Read The New York Times	37.27	−.167	−.434	.790
birdhous	44	Designing and constructing a birdhouse	39.78	.731	.077	−.846
Boundary between Attractiveness/Aversiveness
orgbkup	96	Organizing computer files for backup	45.03	−.035	.455	.018
rpoetry	78	Reading poetry	47.38	.182	−.638	.583
movedorm	11	Helping people move items in or out of a dorm room	50.82	−.445	.468	−.946
thankyou	86	Writing thank you notes	51.86	−.682	.116	.624
excel	58	Entering data into Excel spreadsheets	52.32	−.479	.426	.360
laundry	50	Do laundry	53.82	−1.045	−.108	−.255
filing	32	Filing patient charts/files in a doctor’s office	55.70	−.631	.294	.153
401k	65	Determining the best allocation of investments for a retirement account (e.g., 401k)	56.48	.661	.919	.188
stufenv	35	Stuffing envelopes for a mass mailing	60.25	−.976	.018	.132
trash	106	Picking up trash along a park walking path	61.22	−.948	−.093	−.613
seccam	89	Watching security cameras for a public park	62.73	−.922	−.236	.472
weeding	9	Weeding a garden	63.42	−.587	.152	−.891
readEH	52	Read textbook on European history	64.45	.389	.249	.863
irs	80	Help people complete IRS tax forms	69.95	.257	.973	.228
satessay	2	Complete SAT-type essays	77.39	.958	.596	.526

Notes: Dimension I Tedious vs. Challenging, Dimension II Games vs. Work/Education/Chores, Dimension III Physical vs. Mental Demands

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