Task enrichment is the self-regulatory process of adding a positive stimulus (e.g. listening to music, talking to a friend) to a focal activity, making it more enjoyable. However, engaging in such an activity can affect one’s cognitive load (the amount of working memory storage required to perform a task). Conducting two studies, Burglar et al. (2024) further explored task enrichment’s effects on people and its relation to cognitive loads.

The authors conducted two studies. Study 1 was a pre-registered experiment conducted on an online platform called Prolific. 401 participants were recruited through the platform, all at least 18 years old, fluent in English, and familiar with Prolific. Before the main study, two pilot studies were conducted. The second pilot study consisted of 30 Prolific workers, where they completed 20 hypothetical tasks, with all either being low cognitive load (solve a series of simple arithmetic problems (3 + 4) in a relaxed manner) or high cognitive load (remember a 12-digit phone number (015782292345) over a period of 30 min). Afterwards, participants rated how demanding each of the tasks were using a 7-point scale (1 = does not apply at all to 7 = applies fully). In the main study, participants were required to complete the 20 hypothetical tasks in the second pilot study. Study 2 was an analysis of a pre-existing data set from a study consisting of 503 participants. Participants were asked to report their experiences of self-control conflicts multiple times a day for 10 days using a mobile app. Trait self-control and metacognition were measured using questionnaires. Participants were further surveyed about the types of task enrichment strategies used, self-regulatory success, and cognitive load.

The results of Study 1 and Study 2 showed that participants preferred to use task enrichment in tasks with low cognitive load rather than with high cognitive load. Study 2 revealed the greater effectiveness of task enrichment for low cognitive load tasks. Furthermore, no evidence was found in both studies that trait self-control is associated with a context-sensitive use of task enrichment. Limited evidence was found regarding the association between metacognition in self-control and the context-sensitive use of task enrichment. Overall, the importance of using task enrichment in an appropriate context is highlighted by this research. Teachers can help students enhance their performance by designing specific classroom activities where they can integrate task enrichments. 

The study’s results are in line with EPIC’s research on using instructional media to motivate learning. Future EPIC studies can further the research done by Burgler et al. to see how certain task enrichments (e.g. images, sound effects) in media can affect students’ learning.

If you want to learn more about Burglar, Troll, and Hennecke’s (2024) study, check it out at: https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000320 

This post is written by Jessica Wang. 

Reference:

Bürgler, S., Troll, E. S., & Hennecke, M. (2024). The context-sensitive use of task enrichment to promote self-control: The role of metacognition and trait self-control. Motivation Science, 10(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000320