The Simon Effect Under Reversed Visual Feedbacks

Abstract

Abstract Our aim was to study the processes involved in the spatial coding of the body during actions eliciting multiple effects simultaneously. We specifically aim to challenge the intentional-based account, which proposes that the effects used to code responses are those deemed relevant to the agent's goal. Accordingly, we used a Simon task, which is widely recognized as a suitable method for investigating the spatial coding of responses, combined with a setup inducing a multimodal discrepancy between visual and tactile/proprioceptive effects, known to be crucial for body schema construction and action control. To be more precise, the setup allowed to horizontally reverse the visual effects of the hands compared to the tactile/proprioceptive effects (e.g., the right hand was seen as being on the left). In Experiment 1, the participants' task emphasizing the relevance of visual effects, whereas in Experiment 2 it emphasized the tactile/proprioceptive effects. In Experiment 3, the visual effects were no longer reversed. We observed a Simon effect based on the location of the tactile/proprioceptive effects in Experiments 2 and 3. However, in Experiment 1 the Simon effect was partially driven by the location of the visual effects. Altogether, these findings provide support for the notion that the intention of the agent plays a prominent role in the representation of the body during action. This work also opens a promising avenue of research linking action and body representations.