Congruency of intervening events and self-induced action influence prediction of final results

Predicting self-induced stimuli is easier than predicting externally produced ones and the amplitude of event-related brain potentials (ERP) elicited by self-induced stimuli is smaller than that elicited by externally produced ones. Previous studies reported that these phenomena occurred strong when stimuli were presented immediately after self-induced action. To be able to adapt to changes, however, it is necessary to predict not only an event that follows a self-induced action but also a subsequent final result. We investigated whether congruency among self-induced actions, intervening events, and final results influences the processing of final results. The congruency of an intervening event with self-induced action was task-irrelevant information for the required response to a final result. The results showed that the P1 amplitude elicited by the final result (i.e., somatosensory stimulus) when an intervening event was congruent with self-induced action was smaller than other elicited amplitudes. This suggests that the congruency of an intervening event and self-induced action may facilitate prediction of a final result, even when this congruency is irrelevant to the ongoing task.