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Related Experiment Videos

The mind's self-portrait.

Daniel M Wegner1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. wegner@wjh.harvard.edu

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|November 20, 2003
PubMed
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Our self-perception of conscious will may be a misleading oversimplification. This influential self-portrait, where thoughts cause actions, may not accurately reflect the mind's complex operations but fosters responsibility.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Neuroscience and psychology increasingly detail the human mind's structure and function.
  • The mind possesses a simplified self-view, influencing its perceived operation.
  • This self-view centrally features thoughts as direct causes of actions, positioning the self as the originator of behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the accuracy of the mind's self-portrait regarding conscious will and action causation.
  • To explore the inferential process of apparent mental causation.
  • To examine the implications of this self-portrait for the experience of willing and responsibility.

Main Methods:

  • Review of evidence from psychology and neuroscience.
  • Analysis of the concept of apparent mental causation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of the subjective experience of conscious willing.

    • Main Results:

    • The mind's self-portrait, emphasizing conscious will, may be a caricature of actual mental processes.
    • The experience of conscious willing arises from inferring mental causation.
    • This simplified self-view is crucial for feelings of authorship and accepting responsibility.

    Conclusions:

    • The common experience of conscious willing may be an illusion or oversimplification.
    • The self-portrait of the mind influences our sense of agency and moral responsibility.
    • Understanding the gap between the self-portrait and actual mental operations is key to understanding human behavior.