Arbitrary coherence examples1/17/2024 ![]() And thus the subjective human experience of freely and consciously deciding to act is but an illusion ( Harris, 2012 Libet et al., 1983 Wegner, 2002). Under that interpretation, the fact that RP onset precedes the report of the onset of the conscious decision to act was taken as evidence that decisions about actions are made unconsciously. Libet and colleagues took the RP to be a marker for an unconscious decision to act ( Libet et al., 1983 Soon et al., 2008) that, once it begins, ballistically leads to action ( Shibasaki and Hallett, 2006). There, the authors showed that the readiness potential (RP)-a ramp-up in EEG negativity before movement onset, thought to originate from the presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA)-began before subjects reported a conscious decision to act. The seminal research that launched this series of studies was conducted by Benjamin Libet and colleagues ( Libet et al., 1983). These studies found neural correlates of decision processes hundreds of milliseconds and even seconds prior to the moment that subjects reported having consciously decided. Yet a series of human studies using electroencephalography (EEG) ( Haggard and Eimer, 1999 Libet et al., 1983 Salvaris and Haggard, 2014), fMRI ( Bode and Haynes, 2009 Bode et al., 2011 Soon et al., 2008 Soon et al., 2013), intracranial ( Perez et al., 2015), and single-cell recordings ( Fried et al., 2011) challenged the veridicality of this common experience. Humans typically experience freely selecting between alternative courses of action, say, when ordering a particular item off a restaurant menu. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the issues have been addressed ( see decision letter). They further point to different neural mechanisms underlying deliberate and arbitrary decisions, challenging the generalizability of studies that argue for no causal role for consciousness in decision-making to real-life decisions.Įditorial note: This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. ![]() Our results and drift-diffusion model are congruent with the RP representing accumulation of noisy, random fluctuations that drive arbitrary-but not deliberate-decisions. While we found the expected RPs for arbitrary decisions, they were strikingly absent for deliberate ones. We directly compared deliberate and arbitrary decision-making during a $1000-donation task to non-profit organizations. It remains unknown to what degree the RP generalizes to deliberate, more ecological decisions. ![]() ![]() But previous work focused on arbitrary decisions-purposeless, unreasoned, and without consequences. ![]() Some view this as evidence against a causal role for consciousness in human decision-making and thus against free-will. The readiness potential (RP)-a key ERP correlate of upcoming action-is known to precede subjects' reports of their decision to move. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |