Inhibition of intentional binding by an additional sound presentation.

Abstract

When a voluntary action is followed by an effect after a short delay, the time distance between the action and its effect is perceived to be shorter than the actual time distance. This phenomenon is known as intentional binding (IB). We investigated the influence of presentation of an additional effect on IB between the action and the target effect, and investigated the influence of the presentation timing of the additional effect. One sound (target sound) was constantly presented 250ms after the button was pressed, and the other sound (additional sound) was presented simultaneously when the button was pressed (Experiment 1) or at one of various timings that included moments both before and after the target sound (Experiment 2). The results showed that IB between the action and target sound was significantly inhibited only when the additional sound was presented prior to the target sound. This suggests that the prior effect has a greater advantage in connecting to the action compared to the posterior sound.