Predicted action consequences are perceptually facilitated before cancellation

Yon, Daniel and Press, Clare. 2017. Predicted action consequences are perceptually facilitated before cancellation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43(6), pp. 1073-1083. ISSN 0096-1523 [Article]

[img]
Preview
Text
Cancellation JEPHPP Revised.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

Download (910kB) | Preview

Abstract or Description

Models of action control suggest that predicted action outcomes are “cancelled” from perception, allowing agents to devote resources to more behaviorally relevant unexpected events. These models are supported by a range of findings demonstrating that expected consequences of action are perceived less intensely than unexpected events. A key assumption of these models is that the prediction is subtracted from the sensory input. This early subtraction allows preferential processing of unexpected events from the outset of movement, thereby promoting rapid initiation of corrective actions and updating of predictive models. We tested this assumption in three psychophysical experiments. Participants rated the intensity (brightness) of observed finger movements congruent or incongruent with their own movements at different timepoints after action. Across Experiments 1 and 2, evidence of cancellation—whereby congruent events appeared less bright than incongruent events—was only found 200 ms after action, whereas an opposite effect of brighter congruent percepts was observed in earlier time ranges (50 ms after action). Experiment 3 demonstrated that this interaction was not a result of response bias. These findings suggest that “cancellation” may not be the rapid process assumed in the literature, and that perception of predicted action outcomes is initially “facilitated.” We speculate that the representation of our environment may in fact be optimized via two opposing processes: The primary process facilitates perception of events consistent with predictions and thereby helps us to perceive what is more likely, but a later process aids the perception of any detected events generating prediction errors to assist model updating.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000385

Keywords:

motor processes, prediction, perception, cancellation, sensorimotor integration

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates:

DateEvent
6 March 2017Published
22 December 2016Accepted

Item ID:

27393

Date Deposited:

04 Nov 2019 09:16

Last Modified:

11 Jun 2021 13:01

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/27393

View statistics for this item...

Edit Record Edit Record (login required)