Effect anticipation and action control.
According to the authors' 2-phase model of action control, people first incidentally acquire bidirectional associations between motor patterns and movement-contingent events and then intentionally use these associations for goal-directed action. The authors tested the model in 4 experiments, each comprising an acquisition phase, in which participants experienced co-occurrences between left and right keypresses and low- and high-pitched tones, and a test phase, in which the tones preceded the responses in forced- and free-choice designs. Both reaction time and response frequency in the test phase depended on the learned associations, indicating that presenting a tone activated the associated response. Results are interpreted as evidence for automatic action-outcome integration and automatic response priming through learned action effects. These processes may be basic for the control of voluntary action by the anticipation of action goals.
Department of Cognition and Action, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, Germany. elsner@mpipf-muenchen.mpg.de
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Elsner
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Hommel
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors