Human Action Control: From Intentions to Movements

227 Pages·2016·5.639 MB·English

by  Bernhard Hommel, Stephen B.R.E. Brown, Dieter Nattkemper (auth.)

Bernhard Hommel 
Stephen B.R.E. Brown
Dieter Nattkemper
Human
Action
Control
From Intentions to Movements
Human Action Control

Bernhard Hommel • Stephen B.R.E. Brown
Dieter Nattkemper
Human Action Control
From Intentions to Movements
Bernhard Hommel Stephen B.R.E. Brown
Institute of Psychology Institute of Psychology
Leiden University Leiden University
Leiden , The Netherlands Leiden , The Netherlands
Dieter Nattkemper
Institute of Psychology
Humboldt University of Berlin
Berlin , Germany
ISBN 978-3-319-09243-0 ISBN 978-3-319-09244-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-09244-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016932402
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
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Pref ace
The purpose of this textbook is to provide insight into the areas of action planning
and action control. These two areas are still relatively separated, and many of the
topics we will be discussing are studied in different disciplines and subdisciplines,
such as cognitive vs. motivational psychology, movement and sport sciences, neu-
rophysiology, and biology. Unfortunately, this diversity has generated different
kinds of scientifi c jargon and theorizing, which is diffi cult to relate to one another.
Despite the varied studies throughout multiple disciplines, action still plays an
underprivileged role in psychology. It does not feature as a relevant topic in 99 %
of psychological introductory textbooks. We believe that every effort has to be
taken to better integrate action into psychology’s canon of knowledge. To do so, we
have taken an uncommon route.
G enerally speaking, textbooks provide a more or less exhaustive overview of a
research area or topic and discuss the most recent fi ndings and trends therein. The
advantage of this strategy is obvious: the reader is provided with maximum infor-
mation and, thus, with the opportunity to make up her own opinion. But, there is
also an often overlooked disadvantage: while experts have enough background to
structure new information in the most effi cient way, novices can be over-challenged
by the sheer amount of information that standard textbooks provide and, often, are
not able to appreciate all the subtle implications that the most recent fi ndings might
have. This is, at least, the experience that we have had when we were students and
that our current students often report when struggling with textbooks.
W e therefore opted for another strategy. It consists of focusing on, in our opin-
ion, the most basic principles and theoretical fi gures of thought in the historical
development of the research area. As a result, we have used only a few empirical
fi ndings as examples for how theory and data are connected. Also, we translated
domain-specifi c jargon into our own preferred terminology, which makes it easier
to relate the concepts we discuss. Furthermore, we offer a general organizational
framework of how we think action planning and action control is working, which
will help the reader to organize the information we provide. Our approach has obvi-
ous disadvantages: it is necessarily much more selective and often refers to classi-
cal papers that have introduced particular lines of thought rather than the most
v
vi Preface
recent applications of these thoughts, which explains why the average age of the
literature we cite is unusually high. Most importantly, this selectivity implies that
this textbook is likely to refl ect the theoretical preferences and biases of its authors
more than others. It is, thus, important that the reader does not forget that our
approach is just one of several possible approaches. “Doubt comes a fter belief,”
Wittgenstein says in his last book, O n Uncertainty, meaning that we can start
doubting only once we are done with building up our basis of knowledge. It is in
this sense that we encourage readers to use this book as a jumping board to build
their fi rst basis and later try questioning it based on what other authors say, wher-
ever appropriate and necessary.
Many of the questions that we discuss in the following chapters, and many of the
answers that we suggest, emerged from Nattkemper and Hommel’s numerous col-
laborations with members of the “Cognition & Action” Unit of the Munich Max
Planck Institute for Psychological Research and its spiritual leader, Wolfgang Prinz.
We were unable to reconstruct exactly which ideas and speculations have motivated
which of the considerations that we will present in the following chapters, but we
are 100 % certain that our theoretical preferences and biases, and the style of rea-
soning about cognition and action, were strongly shaped by “Cognition & Action.”
Leiden, The Netherlands Bernhard Hommel
Leiden, The Netherlands Stephen B. R. E. Brown
Berlin, Germany Dieter Nattkemper
Contents
1 Introduction and Overview ...................................................................... 1
1.1 Action and Movement as a Theme in Psychological Research ......... 1
1.2 Defi cits in Theory and Research ........................................................ 2
1.2.1 Sensorimotor Approach ......................................................... 2
1.2.2 Ideomotor Approach .............................................................. 4
1.2.3 Interplay of Perception and Action ........................................ 5
1.2.4 Homunculi .............................................................................. 6
1.3 An Organizing Working Model ......................................................... 7
References ................................................................................................... 8
2 Neurobiological Foundations of Action Planning and Execution ......... 11
2.1 Neuronal Communication .................................................................. 13
2.2 Primary Motor Cortex and Lateral Premotor Cortex (BA4/6) ........... 19
2.2.1 Motor Homunculus ................................................................ 20
2.3 Supplementary Motor Area (BA6 Medial) ........................................ 26
2.3.1 Role of the SMA in the Sequencing of Action Elements ...... 26
2.3.2 Role of the SMA in the Integration of Actions ...................... 26
2.4 Cerebellum ......................................................................................... 32
2.4.1 Consequences of Damage to the Cerebellum ........................ 33
2.4.2 Cognitive Functions of the Cerebellum ................................. 33
2.5 Basal Ganglia ..................................................................................... 37
2.5.1 Consequences of Damage to the Basal Ganglia .................... 38
2.5.2 Cognitive Functions of the Basal Ganglia ............................. 38
2.6 Prefrontal Cortex ................................................................................ 39
2.6.1 Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (BA9/46) ............................... 40
2.6.2 Orbitofrontal Cortex (BA10-14/47) ....................................... 41
2.6.3 Anterior Cingulate Cortex (BA24)......................................... 42
References ................................................................................................... 42
3 Intentions and Action Goals ..................................................................... 47
3.1 Function of Action Goals ................................................................... 47
3.1.1 Action Goal as Context .......................................................... 48
vii
viii Contents
3.1.2 Role of the Prefrontal Cortex ................................................. 50
3.1.3 Control as a Specifi cation of Control Parameters .................. 51
3.1.4 Action Goal as a Global Mediator ......................................... 54
3.2 Representation of Action Goals ......................................................... 57
3.2.1 The Role of Consciousness .................................................... 57
3.2.2 Format of Goal Representations ............................................ 61
3.3 Acquisition of Action Goals .............................................................. 66
3.4 Intraindividual Dynamics and Interindividual Differences ................ 70
References ................................................................................................... 71
4 Perception and Action ............................................................................... 75
4.1 Dissociations of Perception and Action ............................................. 76
4.1.1 Sensorimotor Adaptation and Sensorimotor Learning .......... 76
4.1.2 Pathways of Visual Information Processing .......................... 79
4.2 Interactions Between Perception and Action ..................................... 87
4.2.1 The Impact of Stimulus Processing on Action Control ......... 87
4.2.2 The Impact of Action Control on Stimulus Processing ......... 90
4.3 Integration of Perception and Action ................................................. 94
4.3.1 Theory of Event Coding ......................................................... 96
4.3.2 Empirical Implications of the Theory of Event Coding ......... 99
References ................................................................................................... 105
5 Action Selection ......................................................................................... 109
5.1 Goal-Induced Action Selection .......................................................... 110
5.2 Rule-Based Action Selection ............................................................. 112
5.2.1 Number of Action Alternatives .............................................. 114
5.2.2 Stimulus-Response Compatibility ......................................... 117
5.2.3 Repetition ............................................................................... 118
5.2.4 Practice ................................................................................... 119
5.3 Automatic Selection of Actions ......................................................... 120
5.4 Intuitive Action Selection .................................................................. 122
References ................................................................................................... 126
6 Action Planning ......................................................................................... 129
6.1 Characteristics and Functions of Action Plans .................................. 129
6.1.1 Independence from Sensory Feedback .................................. 130
6.1.2 Anticipation of Future Action Elements ................................ 130
6.1.3 Complexity Effects ................................................................ 132
6.2 The Structure of Action Plans ............................................................ 133
6.2.1 Online and Offl ine Control .................................................... 133
6.2.2 Parameters and Features......................................................... 135
6.3 Programming an Action ..................................................................... 136
6.3.1 Action Preparation with a Constant Number of Action
Alternatives ............................................................................ 137
6.3.2 Motor Priming ........................................................................ 138
6.3.3 Invariants and Variables ......................................................... 138
Contents ix
6.4 Integration of Action Features ........................................................... 140
6.4.1 Integration Mechanisms of Action Planning ......................... 141
6.4.2 Effects of Action Integration .................................................. 142
References ................................................................................................... 143
7 Sequential-Action Planning...................................................................... 147
7.1 Programming Action Sequences ........................................................ 148
7.1.1 Independence from Sensory Feedback .................................. 148
7.1.2 Anticipation Effects and Sequence Errors ............................. 150
7.1.3 Complexity Effects ................................................................ 151
7.2 Sequencing Action Elements ............................................................. 152
7.2.1 Chaining Action Elements ..................................................... 153
7.2.2 Integrating Action Elements .................................................. 156
7.2.3 Hierarchical Control ............................................................... 157
7.3 Planning Extended and Practiced Action Sequences ......................... 161
7.3.1 Sequence Length .................................................................... 162
7.3.2 Movement Duration ............................................................... 163
7.3.3 Practice ................................................................................... 163
References ................................................................................................... 164
8 Controlling and Coordinating Multiple Actions .................................... 167
8.1 Task Switching ................................................................................... 168
8.1.1 Theoretical Considerations and Overview ............................. 168
8.1.2 Task Coordination .................................................................. 171
8.1.3 Switching Between Goal Representations ............................. 174
8.1.4 Proactive Interference ............................................................ 176
8.1.5 Stimulus-Driven Goal Activation ........................................... 178
8.2 Multitasking ....................................................................................... 180
8.2.1 Task Coordination and Resource Allocation ......................... 181
8.2.2 Working Memory ................................................................... 186
8.2.3 Stimulus-Response Translation and Response Selection ....... 187
8.2.4 Response Initiation ................................................................. 191
References ................................................................................................... 193
9 Action Monitoring ..................................................................................... 197
9.1 Action Errors ...................................................................................... 197
9.2 Action Monitoring and Error Detection ............................................. 199
9.2.1 Behavioral Responses to Errors ............................................. 199
9.2.2 Electrophysiological Correlates of Error Detection ............... 200
9.2.3 Neural Correlates of Error and Confl ict Detection ................ 202
9.3 Action Regulation and Error Avoidance ............................................ 203
9.4 Error-Based Learning ......................................................................... 205
References ................................................................................................... 212
Index ................................................................................................................. 215