The Weight of the Past: History-Dependent Resistance in Effort Disengagement

Effort-related disengagement in psychiatric populations often unfolds gradually, even in the absence of overt motivational decline or changes in external task demands. Conventional behavioural models typically treat resistance as a memoryless function of momentary state variables. In this study, we investigate whether incorporating recent behavioural history improves the modelling of effort disengagement. Using a publicly available time series dataset of motor activity collected from individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we compare baseline memoryless models with history-sensitive alternatives that incorporate prior resistance escalation. Across diagnostic groups, models augmented with short-term temporal features yielded superior predictive accuracy and revealed consistent hysteresis effects, whereby the likelihood of disengagement was modulated not only by current state conditions but also by prior trajectories of resistance. These findings suggest that resistance dynamics may exhibit temporal dependencies and asymmetries, highlighting the need for models of cognitive availability that incorporate recent behavioural context without requiring fundamental revisions to existing theoretical frameworks.