A behavioral economic theory of cue-induced attention- and task-switching with implications for neurodiversity

Peter Landry

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2021, vol. 86, issue C

Abstract: I present a stylized, analytical model of cue-induced attention- and task-switching — with a proposed neurobiological interpretation of the model’s features — to organize available empirical evidence on two widely-studied neurodevelopmental conditions: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Specifically, I use this framework to show how a systematic tendency to underestimate the opportunity costs of attention- and task-switching can give rise to several empirically-observed behavioral patterns in ADHD, and that the opposite tendency can give rise to empirically-observed behavioral patterns in ASD. While drawing on various economic concepts to formally express its predictions, the model offers new and inter-related conceptualizations of ADHD and ASD — as viewed through a behavioral microeconomic lens — that may be useful for understanding some subtypes and symptoms.

Keywords: Neuroeconomics; Applied theory; Cue-triggered behavior; Neurodiversity; (Subconscious) attention-switching; (Conscious) task-switching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:86:y:2021:i:c:s0167487021000568

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2021.102423

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