title: Ambiguity between self and other: Individual differences in action attribution.
abstract: Individuals differ in their ability to attribute actions to self or other. This variance is thought to explain, in part, the experience of voice-hearing. Misattribution can also be context-driven. For example, causal ambiguity can arise when the actions of two or more individuals are coordinated and produce similar effects (e.g., music-making). Experience in such challenging contexts may refine skills of action attribution. Forty participants completed a novel finger-tapping task which parametrically manipulated the proportion of control that 'self' versus 'other' possessed over resulting auditory tones. Results showed that action misattribution peaked in the middle of the self-to-other continuum and was biased towards other. This pattern was related to both high hallucination-proneness and to low musical-experience. Findings suggest not only that causal ambiguity plays a key role in agency but also that action attribution abilities may improve with practice, potentially providing an avenue for remediation of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Waterhouse Building, Block B, 2nd Floor, L69 3BX, United Kingdom. Electronic address: cedb@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Christophe E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: de Bézenac
authors.affiliation: Institute of Translational Medicine, Whelan Building, The Quadrangle, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3 GB, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Vanessa.Sluming@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sluming
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Waterhouse Building, Block B, 2nd Floor, L69 3BX, United Kingdom. Electronic address: sulli@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Waterhouse Building, Block B, 2nd Floor, L69 3BX, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Rhiannon.Corcoran@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rhiannon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corcoran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Action attribution; Action-outcome discordance; Agency; Ambiguity; Hallucination proneness; Joint-action; Misattribution; Music-making; Schizotypy