Ambiguity between self and other: Individual differences in action attribution

de Bezenac, Christophe and Sluming, Vanessa and O’Sullivan, Noreen and Corcoran, Rhiannon (2015) Ambiguity between self and other: Individual differences in action attribution. Consciousness and Cognition, 35. pp. 1-15. ISSN 1053-8100

Text DeBezenac et al. 2015.docx - Accepted Version Download (1MB)

Abstract

Individuals differ in their ability to attribute actions to self or other. This variance is thought to explain, in part, the experience of voice-hearing. Misattribution can also be context-driven. For example, causal ambiguity can arise when the actions of two or more individuals
are coordinated and produce similar effects (e.g., music-making). Experience in such challenging contexts may refine skills of action attribution. Forty participants completed a novel finger-tapping task which parametrically manipulated the proportion of control that ‘self’ versus ‘other’ possessed over resulting auditory tones. Results showed that action misattribution peaked in the middle of the self-to-other continuum and was
biased towards other. This pattern was related to both high hallucination-proneness and to low musical-experience. Findings suggest not only that causal ambiguity plays a key role in agency but also that action attribution abilities may improve with practice, potentially providing an avenue for remediation of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Action attribution Agency Ambiguity Action-outcome discordance Hallucination proneness Joint-action Music-making Misattribution Schizotypy
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Noreen O'Sullivan
Date Deposited:	04 Dec 2020 11:38
Last Modified:	04 Dec 2020 11:38
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3188

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