Measures of agency

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• The sense of agency, the feeling of controlling actions and their outcomes, is often treated as a singular concept.
• Existing research frequently assumes a unified construct, potentially limiting experimental scope and interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To challenge the assumption of a single, unified sense of agency.
• To propose the existence of four distinct agency-related psychological constructs.
• To highlight the importance of aligning experimental methods with specific agency constructs.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the sense of agency literature.
• Theoretical argumentation for multiple agency constructs.
• Identification of potential misalignments between theory and experimental practice.

Main Results:

• The sense of agency is not a monolithic construct but comprises at least four distinct psychological constructs.
• Current experimental paradigms may only capture a subset of these constructs.
• A significant obstacle in agency research is the unacknowledged mismatch between theoretical constructs and experimental procedures.

Conclusions:

• Acknowledging four distinct agency constructs is essential for advancing the field.
• Future research must develop experimental paradigms that can specifically target and differentiate these constructs.
• This differentiation will enable a deeper understanding of the computational mechanisms underlying the sense of agency.