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Anticipated action effects affect the selection, initiation, and execution of actions.
Wilfried Kunde1, Iring Koch, Joachim Hoffmann
1Department of Psychology, Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. w.kunde@psych.uni-halle.de
Summary
Response-effect compatibility influences action control. Faster responses occurred when action effects matched intensity, supporting anticipatory representations in action production.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Action Control
Background:
- Understanding how actions are controlled is crucial in cognitive psychology.
- Ideomotor theories propose that actions are guided by the anticipation of their sensory consequences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of contingent action effects on response production.
- To determine if response-effect (R-E) compatibility influences early and late stages of action control.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Participants responded with varying intensity, followed by auditory effects of corresponding or noncorresponding intensity.
- Experiment 2: Assessed the influence of R-E compatibility on response selection, initiation, and execution.
Main Results:
- Responses were initiated faster when action effects matched intensity (R-E compatibility).
- This effect was robust and not due to practice or prior episodes.
- Anticipatory effect codes influenced response selection, initiation, and execution.
Conclusions:
- R-E compatibility reflects anticipatory representations in response production.
- Findings support and specify ideomotor theories of action control.
- Anticipation of sensory effects plays a key role in guiding movements.