Abstract
Sense of agency (SoA) refers to the feeling that we are in control of our own actions and, through them, events in the outside world. SoA depends partly on retrospectively matching outcomes to expectations, and partly on prospective processes occurring prior to action, notably action selection. To assess the relative contribution of these processes, we factorially varied subliminal priming of action selection and expectation of action outcomes. Both factors affected SoA, and there was also a significant interaction. Compatible action primes increased SoA more strongly for unexpected than expected outcomes. Outcome expectation had strong effects on SoA following incompatible action priming, but only weak effects following compatible action priming. Prospective and retrospective SoA may have distinct and complementary functions.
Highlights
The sense of agency (SoA) refers to the feeling of controlling one’s actions and, through them, events in the outside world (Haggard & Tsakiris, 2009)
Compatible action priming led to significantly faster reaction times (RTs) than incompatible priming (incompatible–compatible = 31.13 ms; see Fig. 2(a) below)
We argued above that fluent action selection contributes prospectively to sense of agency
Summary
The sense of agency (SoA) refers to the feeling of controlling one’s actions and, through them, events in the outside world (Haggard & Tsakiris, 2009). The SoA has both a statistical, objective aspect and a phenomenological, subjective aspect. The SoA is sensitive to the statistical contingency between action and outcome (Moore & Haggard, 2008; Moore, Lagnado, Deal, & Haggard, 2009; Sato, 2009). The phenomenology known as SoA comprises the experience of being the author of one’s actions, and feeling that one is responsible for their outcomes. SoA is an essential feature of normal human mental life and of human society. It underpins the societal concept of responsibility for action (Spence, 2009), and the legal system. Many psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and OCD, involve an altered SoA
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