Intentional binding is unrelated to action intention

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Intentional binding describes the subjective temporal attraction between an action and its sensory consequence.
• Previous research suggested a strong link between voluntary motor commands and intentional binding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of voluntary motor commands in intentional binding.
• To determine if intention is a critical factor in the perceived timing of action-consequence events.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed voluntary or involuntary key presses while observing a rotating clock.
• Judgments of clock hand position at the time of action or auditory tone were recorded.
• Baseline measures were obtained from trials with separate action and tone occurrences.

Main Results:

• Uncorrected baseline estimates showed less binding for involuntary than voluntary movements.
• This difference in intentional binding disappeared after baseline correction and controlling for temporal predictability.
• The perceived temporal attraction between action and consequence was not solely dependent on motor intention.

Conclusions:

• The findings challenge a direct link between action intention and intentional binding.
• Causal inference and multisensory integration processes appear to be more influential.
• This suggests that the perception of agency relies on complex inferential mechanisms beyond simple motor commands.