Does Trying Harder Really Work? Study Reveals Effort Doesn't Boost Intelligence Test Scores

A study published in 'Intelligence & Cognitive Abilities' reveals that, although financial rewards can increase motivation, this does not translate into better results on cognitive tests.

For decades, researchers have debated the relationship between motivation and measured cognitive performance. Some prominent social theories suggest that a considerable portion of the differences in intelligence scores are attributed to individual effort during the examination. However, this study, led by Timothy Bates of the University of Edinburgh, contradicts this perspective.

The study used experiments designed to manipulate the participants' effort, offering financial rewards to increase their motivation. The results showed that, although motivation increased, performance on reasoning and spatial tests did not significantly improve.

Bates designed a series of experiments to determine the real impact of effort on mental performance.

In the first phase, a survey was developed to measure anticipated effort before the test. In the second phase, 500 adults were recruited for a spatial reasoning test, offering half a financial bonus for improving their score. The third phase included over 1,200 participants, using a different set of questions to measure effort.

The study used a bonus of two British pounds to incentivize participants to improve their results. Despite the reported increase in motivation, actual performance on the tests remained unchanged, indicating that effort had no significant impact on cognitive scores.

The combined outcomes of these experiments suggest that basic mental abilities are relatively independent of short-term acts of willpower.

The study confirms the validity of standard cognitive tests, as they are not easily skewed by fluctuating levels of motivation, making them an accurate reflection of a person's basic reasoning skills.

The study, titled 'Is Trying Harder Enough? Causal Analysis of the Effort-IQ Relationship Suggests Not', was written by Timothy Bates.

The findings do not imply that hard work and perseverance are useless in general. Diligence and goal setting remain highly effective strategies for long-term success, especially when mastering new skills or completing lengthy projects.

Educators seeking to improve student outcomes might focus on proven instructional techniques, such as systematic time spent on a task and spaced repetition over weeks and months. These strategies offer a more realistic path to academic improvement than expecting a sudden burst of effort to raise a student's basic cognitive ability.

A previous analysis suggested that offering small monetary rewards could boost test performance to a great extent; however, that original analysis was discarded due to fraudulent data. Previous observational studies on effort suffered from a defect known as reverse causality, where the perception of good performance leads to reporting greater effort, rather than effort causing good performance.

Bates' methodology, which included prospective measurement of effort and manipulation of motivation through incentives, provided a more accurate understanding of the relationship between effort and cognitive performance.