title: How plausible is it that conscious control is illusory?
abstract: Findings in a number of neuropsychological studies involving reports of decisions to initiate spontaneous movement (e.g., Fried, Mukamel, & Kreiman, 2011; Libet, Gleason, Wright, & Pearl, 1983; Soon, Brass, Heinze, & Haynes, 2008) are often interpreted as putting in question the reality of conscious control and, by extension, the time-honored concept of free will. I suggest that several problems with the basic paradigm used by most such studies, elaborated on in some recent articles (prominently Miller, Shepherdson, & Trevena, 2011, and Schurger, Sitt, & Dehaene, 2012), as well as some other arguments, raise doubt that conscious control is in fact a gratuitous byproduct of preconscious brain activity.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navon
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D003243:Consciousness; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D033182:Intention; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011936:Reality Testing