PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

The role of attention in a joint-action effect.

  • Silviya P Doneva,
  • Geoff G Cole

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091336
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 3
p. e91336

Abstract

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The most common explanation for joint-action effects has been the action co-representation account in which observation of another's action is represented within one's own action system. However, recent evidence has shown that the most prominent of these joint-action effects (i.e., the Social Simon effect), can occur when no co-actor is present. In the current work we examined whether another joint-action phenomenon (a movement congruency effect) can be induced when a participant performs their part of the task with a different effector to that of their co-actor and when a co-actor's action is replaced by an attention-capturing luminance signal. Contrary to what is predicted by the action co-representation account, results show that the basic movement congruency effect occurred in both situations. These findings challenge the action co-representation account of this particular effect and suggest instead that it is driven by bottom-up mechanisms.