Perceived mental effort serves as a cue for monitoring judgments, which mediate the effort–outcome relation (David et al., 2024 meta-analysis)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Perceived mental effort is moderately negatively associated with monitoring judgments, monitoring judgments are strongly positively associated with learning outcomes, and the effort–outcome association is fully mediated by monitoring judgments. → de Bruin 2025

Evidence¶

de Bruin 2025¶

de Bruin, A. B. H., Janssen, E. M., Waldeyer, J., & Stebner, F. (2025). Cognitive Load and Challenges in Self-regulation: An Introduction and Reflection on the Topical Collection. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10042-2

q3 · i? · review · r2

Meta-analysis by David et al. (2024) on the relation between perceived mental effort, monitoring judgments, and learning outcomes, as summarized in this editorial. It found the indirect effort–outcome association was "fully mediated by learners’ monitoring judgments." No effect sizes are printed in the editorial.

"Results showed a moderate negative association between perceived mental effort and monitoring judgments, a strong positive association between monitoring judgments and learning outcomes, and a moderate indirect association between perceived mental effort and learning outcomes, fully mediated by learners’ monitoring judgments."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Subjective effort ratings are affected by invalid cues and only weakly valid as cues to judged learning outcomes — related
• Effort ratings correlate negatively with judgments of learning (r = −0.355), but the correlation disappears under a goal-driven interpretation of effort — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Effort appraisals correlate negatively with monitoring judgments: high mental effort is associated with poorer performance judgments — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Perceived effort ratings are metacognitive judgments based on heuristic cue processing and prone to bias — a broader claim this one bears on
• Effort measurement type moderates the correlation: self-agency ratings show a positive association and subjective ratings a stronger negative one than objective measures — related
• Students use invested mental effort as a cue when judging their learning, and self-rated mental effort is negatively related to judgments of learning — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Mental effort and judgments of learning show a medium-sized negative correlation, moderated by regulation mode and task type — related
• Perceived mental effort has a negative indirect association with learning outcomes, mediated by monitoring judgments (β = -0.05) — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Perceived mental effort is negatively associated with monitoring judgments (β = -0.19) in a meta-analytic structural equation model — a narrower finding that bears on this claim