THE ROLE OF NON-TARGET STIMULI IN MODULATING THE SENSE OF AGENCY: EVIDENCE FOR A DISSOCIATION BETWEEN IMPLICITLY AND EXPLICITLY MEASURED AGENCY

Abstract

The sense of agency refers to the perception of the extent to which our actions cause outcomes. This ability is thought to be produced by a comparison between a predictive representation of an outcome and the actual outcome that occurs. A recent study found that this comparison process takes into account information from extraneous non-targets that are not acted on, in addition to information from target stimuli. That study made use of self-report data as the dependent variable: after each trial, participants reported the extent to which they felt that their action had caused the outcome of each trial. The present study aimed to examine if the same pattern of responses could be found when a temporal estimation task was used as the dependent variable instead. The original study found evidence that suggested a modulating role of non-target stimuli in the sense of agency. No such differences in the reported temporal estimates among the various non-target conditions were found. Additionally, a reversal of the expected intentional binding effect was obtained. Both findings suggest a dissociation between implicit and explicit processes of agency.