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Endogenous versus exogenous change: change detection, self and agency
Bruno Berberian1, Axel Cleeremans
1Unité de Recherche Conscience, Cognition and Computation, Université Libre de Bruxelles - CP 191, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50, Bruxelles, Belgium. bruno.berberian@ulb.ac.be
Consciousness and Cognition
|November 3, 2009
Summary
This study shows people are less aware of self-produced (endogenous) changes than external (exogenous) ones. This research explores agency and self-perception in change detection.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Perception
Background:
- Distinguishing self-produced actions from external events is crucial for agency.
- Understanding how the brain processes endogenous versus exogenous changes informs theories of selfhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate human ability to discriminate between endogenous (self-produced) and exogenous (externally-produced) changes.
- To analyze awareness and behavioral adaptation to these different types of changes.
Main Methods:
- Developed a novel experimental paradigm involving stimulus reproduction and subtle change introduction.
- Introduced endogenous changes (reproducing own pattern) and exogenous changes (new pattern).
- Dynamically analyzed change awareness and behavioral adaptation.
Main Results:
- Observed signal attenuation when participants encountered endogenous changes.
- Found a dissociation between self-attribution reports and the behavioral effects of agency.
- Demonstrated differential processing of self-generated versus externally-generated stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Self-produced changes lead to reduced perceptual sensitivity.
- The sense of agency is not always aligned with objective behavioral effects.
- Findings contribute to understanding the minimal self and the extended autobiographical self.
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