Deceiving oneself about being in control: Conscious detection of changes in visuomotor coupling

Previous research has demonstrated that compensatory movements for changes in visuomotor coupling often are not consciously detected. But what factors affect the conscious detection of such changes? This issue was addressed in 4 experiments. Participants carried out a drawing task in which the relative velocity between the actual movement and its visual consequences was perturbed. Unconscious compensatory movements and conscious detection rates were simultaneously recorded. There was an invariant relationship between the extent of the change and its conscious detection that was proportional to the initial drawing velocity. This suggests that conscious change detection relies on a system that integrates visual and motor information - as, for instance, suggested by the internal model theory of motor control. Figural discrepancies increased the detection rates, indicating that additional cues for the what system facilitate conscious change detection.