Citation

Kunde W, Hoffmann J, Zellmann P. Acta Psychol. 2002; 109(2): 137-155.

Affiliation

Psychological Institute III, University of Würzburg, Germany. kunde@psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11820424

Abstract

Three experiments with a total of 72 participants investigated the assumption that motor actions are planned in terms of their sensorial effects. Participants had to prepare a certain action A that consistently led to a sensorial effect (a tone of certain pitch). Instead of (in Experiment 1) or before (in Experiments 2 and 3) the execution of the prepared action, another response B had to be carried out, which either resulted in the same or in a different auditory effect (a tone of same or different pitch). It was found that a to-be-executed response B was in general initiated more quickly when it resulted in the same effect as a concurrently prepared response A. The results are considered as evidence for the basic notion that the preparation and initiation even of very simple actions is mediated by an anticipation of their reafferences.

Language: en