title: Experience of action depends on intention, not body movement: an experiment on memory for mens rea.
abstract: How do we know whether our own actions were voluntary or involuntary? Intentional theories of sense of agency suggest that we consciously perceive the intentions that accompany our actions, but reconstructive theories suggest that we perceive our actions only through the body movements and other effects that they produce. Intentions would then be mere confabulations, and not bona fide experiences. Previous work on voluntary action has focused on immediate experiences of authorship, and few studies have considered memory for voluntary actions. We devised an experiment in which both voluntary action and involuntary movement always occurred at the same time, but could either involve the same hand (congruent condition), or different hands (incongruent condition). When signals from the voluntary and involuntary movements involved different hands, they could therefore potentially interfere in memory. We found that recall of a voluntary action was unaffected by an incongruent involuntary movement. In contrast, recall of an involuntary movement was strongly influenced by an incongruent voluntary action. Our results demonstrate an "intentional capture" of body movement by voluntary actions, in support of intentional theories of agency, but contrary to reconstructive theories. When asked to recall both actions and movements, people's responses are shaped by memory of what they intended to do, rather than by how their body moved.
authors.affiliation: CFIN, MindLab, CNRU, Aarhus University, Noerrebrogade 44, build. 10G, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark. Electronic address: mads@cnru.dk.
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK. Electronic address: eleonorava@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vagnoni
authors.affiliation: CFIN, MindLab, CNRU, Aarhus University, Noerrebrogade 44, build. 10G, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark; Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, Aarhus University & Aalborg University, Noerrebrogade 44, build. 10G, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark. Electronic address: morten.overgaard@hammel.rm.dk.
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Overgaard
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK. Electronic address: p.haggard@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haggard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception; D000091402:Prohibitins; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D014836:Volition
keywords: Intentional capture; Sense of agency; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Volition