Abstract

In this pre-registered study, we tried to replicate the study by Rigoni et al. 2013 Cognition 127, 264–269. In the original study, the authors manipulated the participants’ belief in free will in a between-subject design and subsequently measured post-error slowing (i.e. slower responses after an incorrect trial compared with a correct trial) as a marker of cognitive control. They found less post-error slowing in the group with reduced belief in free will (anti-free will group) compared with a control group in which belief in free will was not manipulated. In the present study, we used the same task procedure and the same free will manipulation (Crick text) in an attempt to replicate these findings. However, we used an online procedure and a larger sample size in order to address concerns about statistical power. Similar to the original study, we also used a questionnaire to measure beliefs in free will as an independent manipulation check. We found a difference in the scores on the questionnaire, thus a reduced belief in free will, after reading the Crick text. However, we did not find any difference in post-error slowing between the anti-free will and control groups. Our findings are in line with several other recent findings suggesting that the Crick text manipulation affects the participants’ self-reported belief in free will but not their behaviour. The present study can be considered a high-powered failed replication attempt.

Highlights

  • In this pre-registered study, we tried to replicate the study by Rigoni et al 2013 Cognition 127, 264–269

  • The authors manipulated the participants’ belief in free will in a between-subject design and subsequently measured post-error slowing as a marker of cognitive control

  • We found a difference in the scores on the questionnaire, a reduced belief in free will, after reading the Crick text

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Summary

Introduction

In this pre-registered study, we tried to replicate the study by Rigoni et al 2013 Cognition 127, 264–269. The authors manipulated the participants’ belief in free will in a between-subject design and subsequently measured post-error slowing (i.e. slower responses after an incorrect trial compared with a correct trial) as a marker of cognitive control. Rigoni and colleagues found that reading the anti-free will text reduced both belief in free will (as measured by the FAD plus) and post-error adjustments (as indicated by reduced PES). These results were interpreted as evidence for the idea that reduced belief in free will reduces motivation to exert self-regulation, including performance adjustments after erroneous responses. This leads to the assumption that the study by Rigoni et al [6] might constitute a false positive result

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