Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Actor-Observer Effect

Actor-Observer Effect

The actor-observer effect, a cognitive bias closely linked to the fundamental attribution error, refers to the tendency for individuals to attribute their behavior to external, situational factors while explaining others’ behavior in terms of internal, dispositional traits. This asymmetry in attribution significantly influences social perception and judgment.Cognitive Mechanisms Behind the EffectTwo primary psychological mechanisms contribute to the actor-observer effect: differences in...

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion

The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are responsible for cell movement, while in higher organisms, these appendages help in the movement of the extracellular fluids within the body cavities.
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...

Observational Learning

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning...

Fundamental Attribution Error

Fundamental Attribution Error

According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...

Hierarchy of Motor Control

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.

Drive-Reduction Theory: Push Theory of Motivation

Drive-Reduction Theory: Push Theory of Motivation

Clark Hull's drive-reduction theory, introduced in the 1940s and 1950s and often termed the "push theory" of motivation, provides a framework for understanding how biological and learned drives influence behavior. Hull suggested that motivation originates from the need to alleviate physiological tension caused by unmet biological necessities. The theory proposes that when a basic need, such as hunger or sleep, goes unfulfilled, it creates an internal imbalance. This imbalance, or...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Modeling the cognitive processes of accepting clinical decision support.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2025

Same author

Stroke features in the Chinese character recognition.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2025

Same author

The unboxing has already begun: One motivation construct at a time.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2025

Same author

Choice effects on temporal binding of action and outcomes: Examining the role of outcome focus and measures of time interval estimation.

Acta psychologica·2024

Same author

Obedience induces agentic shifts by increasing the perceived time between own action and results.

Scientific reports·2024

Same author

Perceptions of artificial intelligence system's aptitude to judge morality and competence amidst the rise of Chatbots.

Cognitive research: principles and implications·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Examining mechanistic explanations for ideomotor effects.

Dan Sun¹, Ruud Custers¹, Hans Marien¹

¹Department of Social, Health, and Organizational Psychology.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance

|April 4, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Ideomotor theory explains action initiation through learned associations. This study suggests these effects stem from causal reasoning, not just memory links, as participants rapidly updated action-outcome mappings.

More Related Videos

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Published on: March 1, 2017

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Published on: March 1, 2017

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Action Science

Background:

Ideomotor (IM) theory posits that learned action-outcome associations automatically trigger actions upon perceiving outcomes.
Existing evidence for IM theory is challenged by alternative explanations based on causal inference.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the underlying mechanisms of ideomotor effects.
To test whether IM effects rely on bidirectional associations or causal propositions.

Main Methods:

An online ideomotor paradigm was developed where learning and testing occurred within the same trials.
Participants learned and updated action-outcome associations in real-time.

Main Results:

Ideomotor effects emerged rapidly, within a few trials.
Participants demonstrated immediate updating of action-outcome associations when new mappings were introduced, showing no switch costs.

Conclusions:

Findings suggest that ideomotor effects may be driven by propositional representations of causal relations.
This challenges the traditional view of IM theory relying solely on bidirectional memory associations.