Investigating the developmental origins of sense of agency and self-serving biases (360G-Wellcome-202554_Z_16_Z)

Sense of agency describes our experience of self-control over our actions and resulting outcomes in the world. It can be measured at a perceptual level using causal binding paradigms. Causal binding refers to subjective shifts in perception whereby outcomes resulting from our own actions are perceived earlier in time relative to outcomes preceded by an external signal. Binding is thought to be intrinsically connected to our implicit sense of agency: by perceiving our actions and outcomes more closely linked, this increases our perception of control over the outcome. Strikingly, binding is attenuated in adults when the outcome is negative. This suggests that self-serving biases - the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to the self and negative outcomes to external factors – can influence our implicit sense of agency. We will study for the first time whether self-serving biases also affect children’s implicit sense of agency. We will test: 1) whether self-serving biases operate at a perceptual level in children through causal binding. If they did, this would indicate that self-serving biases operate implicitly. 2) Whether self-serving biases are stronger in children compared to adults. If they were, it would give us insight into the adaptive function of self-serving biases.