Sense of agency for future-directed intentions: Intentional binding for intermediate outcomes

Intentions can be present-directed or future-directed. Given that previous studies have primarily focused on understanding present-directed intentions, we studied sense of agency (SoA) for future-directed intentions by focusing on intermediate action-outcome events. The intermediate outcome exactly predicted the final perceptual outcome. We hypothesized that if SoA is conceptualized as tracking control, then IB (an implicit measure of SoA) should be present even at intermediate stages i.e. between initial action and appearance of intermediate outcome, which was associated with the intended outcome. In addition, we hypothesized faster response times for those intermediate outcome events that predicted the intended outcome. We also manipulated the contingency between intended outcome and intermediate outcome. We found as hypothesized a main effect of intention on interval judgement and reaction time for the intermediate outcome. Durations were judged shorter (more IB) for the intermediate outcome that predicted the intended outcome. The results support accounts of SoA that emphasize tracking control and the presence of IB for intermediate outcomes can be explained through post-dictive mechanisms.