Are we aware of what we are about to do? New experimental approaches to voluntary action and conscious awareness

Generating a voluntary action typically involves some experience of conscious intention. Prospective theories propose that conscious intention is a readout of action preparation processes, while retrospective theories view conscious intention as an inference retro-inserted into narratives of one’s own behaviour. Studying conscious intention experimentally is difficult, because (a) eliciting voluntary actions in laboratory settings is problematic, and (b) existing measures of conscious intention using post-action reports could involve post hoc biases. We developed touch-typing versions of a verbal fluency task to elicit voluntary actions to address (a), and then interrupted participants quasi-randomly, asking “Were you about to type your next word?”, to address (b). Across two experiments with 51 participants, we found conscious intention emerged at 1079 ms (SD=1366 ms) and 1258 ms (SD=749 ms) before the estimated time of upcoming action. EEG results showed more reduction of beta-band oscillations and a greater readiness-potential-like deflection prior to probes that elicited reports of conscious intention, compared to probes that did not. Our results offer novel support for prospective theories of conscious intention, and may partly address methodological difficulties of previous studies.