Abstract
According to ideomotor theory, action-effect associations are crucial for voluntary action control. Recently, a number of studies started to investigate the conditions that mediate the acquisition and application of action-effect associations by comparing actions carried out in response to exogenous stimuli (stimulus-based) with actions selected endogenously (intention-based). There is evidence that the acquisition and/or application of action-effect associations is boosted when acting in an intention-based action mode. For instance, bidirectional action-effect associations were diagnosed in a forced choice test phase if participants previously experienced action-effect couplings in an intention-based but not in a stimulus-based action mode. The present study aims at investigating effects of the action mode on action-effect associations in more detail. In a series of experiments, we compared the strength and durability of short-term action-effect associations (binding) immediately following intention- as well as stimulus-based actions. Moreover, long-term action-effect associations (learning) were assessed in a subsequent test phase. Our results show short-term action-effect associations of equal strength and durability for both action modes. However, replicating previous results, long-term associations were observed only following intention-based actions. These findings indicate that the effect of the action mode on long-term associations cannot merely be a result of accumulated short-term action-effect bindings. Instead, only those episodic bindings are selectively perpetuated and retrieved that integrate action-relevant aspects of the processing event, i.e., in case of intention-based actions, the link between action and ensuing effect.
Highlights
Humans either carry out actions to achieve desired effects in the environment or to accommodate to environmental demands
The results suggest that one and the same action-effect event results in different long-term consequences depending on the action mode: if actions are performed in the intention-based mode, ideomotor learning occurs, that is new action-effect associations are acquired and later on retrieved upon effect presentation
The finding of Herwig et al, 2007; see Herwig and Waszak, 2009; Herwig and Horstmann, 2011) that ideomotor learning is affected by the action mode does not seem to be due to an elementary difference in action-effect binding
Summary
Humans either carry out actions to achieve desired effects in the environment or to accommodate to environmental demands. Neuroscientific evidence suggests that intention- and stimulusbased actions have distinct neural bases (e.g., Goldberg, 1985; Passingham, 1993; Praamstra et al, 1995; Deiber et al, 1996; Waszak et al, 2005, 2012; Mueller et al, 2007; Haggard, 2008). This distinction is further supported by clinical observations showing a selective impairment of one type of action and thereby implying dissociation between intention- and stimulus-based action control (e.g., Lhermitte, 1983; Shallice et al, 1989)
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