Action Effects Are Coded as Transitions From Current to Future Stimulation: Evidence From Compatibility Effects in Tracking

There is ample evidence that motor actions are stored in terms of, and controlled by, the sensory effects that these actions produce. At present it is unclear, though, whether action control is governed by intended sensory changes (e.g., the transition from darkness to brightness when switching on a light) or only by intended sensory end states (e.g., the light being on). The present study explored the role of sensory changes for action control. To address this issue, participants engaged in a spatial tracking task. We show that performance is determined by the compatibility between motor patterns and subsequent changes of a controlled stimulus, while the intended end state of the stimulus remains constant. Spatial compatibility increases performance even when perceptual changes of spatial features are not the primary target of control. These results suggest that intended transitions of stimulation have the potential to bias motor actions. We consider these results as an important step toward integrating closed-loop regulation approaches and ideomotor approaches of action control. Public Significance Statement We typically behave in a goal-oriented manner. Thus, we aim to achieve certain intended perceptual states. To do so we need to acquire knowledge about which motor actions are linked to which perceptual effects. Here, we argue that such effects are mentally stored as perceptual changes from current to future perceptual states rather than as perceptual states per se. We show that perceptual changes are easier produced by motor actions that are spatially compatible rather than incompatible to these changes while the intended sensory end states remain the same. These observations suggest a new look at the mental representations that enable goal-oriented action.