Effect anticipation and action control.

TLDR

People first incidentally learn bidirectional associations between motor patterns and movement‑contingent events, then use these associations intentionally for goal‑directed action, a process that may underlie voluntary action control through anticipation of action goals. The authors tested the model in four experiments that paired left/right keypresses with low/high tones during acquisition, then presented the tones before responses in forced‑ and free‑choice test phases. The results showed that tones activated the associated responses, as evidenced by faster reaction times and higher response frequencies, supporting automatic action‑outcome integration and response priming via learned action effects.

Abstract

According to the authors' 2-phase model of action control, people first incidentally acquire bidirectional associations between motor patterns and movement-contingent events and then intentionally use these associations for goal-directed action. The authors tested the model in 4 experiments, each comprising an acquisition phase, in which participants experienced co-occurrences between left and right keypresses and low- and high-pitched tones, and a test phase, in which the tones preceded the responses in forced- and free-choice designs. Both reaction time and response frequency in the test phase depended on the learned associations, indicating that presenting a tone activated the associated response. Results are interpreted as evidence for automatic action-outcome integration and automatic response priming through learned action effects. These processes may be basic for the control of voluntary action by the anticipation of action goals.