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Bootstrapping agency: How control-relevant information affects motivation.

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Information about environmental control, like having an own-action effect, influences motivation. Temporal and spatial predictability of actions and outcomes modulate this motivation from control, impacting response selection.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

  • The sense of agency, or feeling of control over one's actions and their consequences, is crucial for motivation.
  • Existing frameworks suggest that information about control influences action selection, but empirical validation is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically test the control-based response selection framework.
  • To investigate how temporal and spatial contiguity/predictability modulate motivation derived from perceived control.
  • To examine the direct and indirect effects of control-relevant information on action selection.

Main Methods:

  • Five experiments were conducted involving participants responding to cues that could trigger perceptual effects.
  • Temporal contiguity/predictability (Experiments 1a-c) and spatial contiguity/predictability (Experiments 2a-b) between actions and effects were manipulated.
  • Measures included explicit judgments of agency, response time, and response frequency.

Main Results:

  • Results consistently supported the control-based response selection framework.
  • Control-relevant information, specifically temporal and spatial predictability, reliably modulated the impact of having an effect.
  • This modulation occurred across different levels of action selection.

Conclusions:

  • Control-relevant information significantly influences motivation by shaping how individuals perceive their agency.
  • The findings underscore the importance of temporal and spatial factors in establishing a sense of control.
  • The control-based response selection framework provides a robust explanation for motivation derived from environmental control.