School of Psychology.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Aug;147(8):1256-1263. doi: 10.1037/xge0000435. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
It feels intuitive that our actions are intentional, but there is considerable debate about whether (and how) humans control their motor behavior. Recent ideomotor theories of action argue that action intentions are fundamentally perceptual, that actions are not only controlled by anticipating-imagining-their intended perceptual consequences, but are also initiated when this action effect activation is strong. Here, the authors report a study (plus a replication) that provides direct evidence for this proposal, showing that even nonintended actions are executed when their effects are activated strongly enough. Participants mentally rehearsed a movement sequence and were unexpectedly presented with salient visual cues that were either compatible or incompatible with their currently imagined action. As predicted by ideomotor theories, the combined activation through imagery and perception was sufficient to trigger involuntary actions, even when participants were forewarned and asked to withhold them. Ideomotor cues, therefore, do not only influence preplanned responses but can effectively insert intentions to act, creating behavior de novo, as predicted from ideomotor theories of action control. (PsycINFO Database Record
我们的行动是有意的，这感觉是直观的，但关于人类是否（以及如何）控制他们的运动行为存在相当大的争议。最近的动作意向动理论认为，动作意向从根本上说是知觉的，动作不仅是通过预期-想象它们预期的知觉后果来控制的，而且当这种动作效果激活足够强时也会被启动。在这里，作者报告了一项研究（加上一项复制），为这一建议提供了直接证据，表明即使是非意向性的动作，当它们的效果被激活得足够强烈时，也会被执行。参与者在心理上排练了一个动作序列，然后意外地出现了明显的视觉提示，这些提示与他们目前想象中的动作要么是相容的，要么是不相容的。正如动作意向理论所预测的那样，通过意象和知觉的联合激活足以引发无意识的动作，即使参与者事先得到警告并被要求抑制这些动作。因此，动作意向线索不仅会影响预先计划的反应，而且可以有效地插入行动意图，根据动作控制的动作意向理论创造新的行为。
