Subliminal action priming modulates the perceived intensity of sensory action consequences

• Published in: Cognition 2014-02, Vol.130 (2), p.227-235
• Main Authors: Stenner, Max-Philipp, Bauer, Markus, Sidarus, Nura, Heinze, Hans-Jochen, Haggard, Patrick, Dolan, Raymond J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Agency; Auditory Perception - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology; Female; Forecasts; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Motor predictions; Negative compatibility effect; Observation; Perception - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor activities; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Sensation - physiology; Sense of agency; Senses; Sensory attenuation; Stimuli; Subliminal motor priming; Subliminal Stimulation; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0010-0277; 1873-7838
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.11.008

•In theory, the motor system attenuates action-outcome perception to signal agency.•We use subliminal motor priming to test for the predicted motor locus of this effect.•The perceived intensity of an action-outcome is attenuated by compatible priming.•Compatible priming is known to enhance explicit agency judgements.•Sensory attenuation and agency inference depend on overlapping motoric signals. The sense of control over the consequences of one’s actions depends on predictions about these consequences. According to an influential computational model, consistency between predicted and observed action consequences attenuates perceived stimulus intensity, which might provide a marker of agentic control. An important assumption of this model is that these predictions are generated within the motor system. However, previous studies of sensory attenuation have typically confounded motor-specific perceptual modulation with perceptual effects of stimulus predictability that are not specific to motor action. As a result, these studies cannot unambiguously attribute sensory attenuation to a motor locus. We present a psychophysical experiment on auditory attenuation that avoids this pitfall. Subliminal masked priming of motor actions with compatible prime–target pairs has previously been shown to modulate both reaction times and the explicit feeling of control over action consequences. Here, we demonstrate reduced perceived loudness of tones caused by compatibly primed actions. Importantly, this modulation results from a manipulation of motor processing and is not confounded by stimulus predictability. We discuss our results with respect to theoretical models of the mechanisms underlying sensory attenuation and subliminal motor priming.