Anomalous control: When ‘free-will’ is not conscious

Hypnosis and top-down regulation of consciousness

“…Insofar as such reports can be contaminated by social desirability (for instance, to deny responsibility) and other biases, many studies have also used implicit measures of agency, which are typically based on the phenomenon of intentional binding (Moore & Obhi, 2012): action-outcome intervals are perceived to be shorter for intentional actions than for unintended actions, such as when a movement is passive. As described above, previous research using a similar paradigm suggests that suggested involuntary motor responses are perceptually more similar to truly passive responses than truly voluntary movements (Haggard et al, 2004).…”

“…As described above, the principal phenomenological feature of response to a hypnotic suggestion is a reduction or disruption of the perception of authorship over one's actions and thoughts (Bowers, 1981;Polito et al, 2014). Despite the prominence of this experiential concomitant of hypnotic responding, relatively little hypnosis research (Haggard et al, 2004;Lush et al, 2016) has exploited knowledge gained from research on the sense of agency Moore & Obhi, 2012). In particular, harnessing methodologies developed to study normal and atypical sense of agency has the potential to usher in theoretical and methodological step changes in experimental hypnosis research.…”

“…In turn, the primary phenomenological feature of response to suggestion is a distortion in one's sense of agency (Weitzenhoffer, 1974(Weitzenhoffer, , 1980. Such distortions during hypnotic responding are elevated in high hypnotic suggestibility at a comparable magnitude to disruptions in the sense of agency in passivity symptoms experienced by patients with schizophrenia (Polito, Langdon, & Barnier, 2015) and are perceived as more similar to truly passive than truly voluntary responses (Haggard, Cartledge, Dafydd, & Oakley, 2004). A second hallmark feature of response to hypnotic suggestions is the perception that one's response is real (Barnier, Dienes, & Mitchell, 2008;Kihlstrom, 2008;Woody & Szechtman, 2007a).…”

“…Preliminary research suggests that responses to ideomotor suggestions more closely resemble truly passive responses than truly voluntary responses (Haggard et al, 2004 (Moore & Obhi, 2012)). These effects bear a striking resemble to other non-hypnotic delusions of control present in the general population, such as facilitated communication, where an individual will misattribute their control to another person Wegner, 2002), or possession states, where an individual perceives their experiences and behaviours to be directed by an external non-material source, such as a deity (Bhavsar, Ventriglio, & Bhugra, 2016;Cardeña, Van Duijl, Weiner, & Terhune, 2009).…”

“…Sense of agency refers to the perception that we are the author of our own actions (Haggard et al, 2004;Moore & Obhi, 2012). It is a fundamental aspect of individuality and forms the basis for judgements of responsibility (Moore, 2016).…”