How does sense of agency develop across adolescence?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Psychology
Abstract
Introduction
A sense of agency (SoA) refers to an individual's awareness of their control over self-produced motor actions and the external consequences of those actions (Pacherie, 2008). It has been suggested that children and elderly adults possess a reduced SoA in comparison to young adults (Cavazzana et al., 2017). However, limited research has focused on the development of SoA during adolescence (Sokol, Hammond, Kuebli and Sweetman, 2015). It is important to study the development of SoA within adolescence in order to gain a full understanding of how SoA develops in typically-developing individuals.
Method
The aim of the proposed research is to study the development of agency in healthy individuals. Individuals' SoA will be measured using an SoA judgment task, as used by Metacalfe et al. (2010). Participants ages will range from 8-22 years old, with stratified sampling methods utilized to ensure members of child (8-12 years old), adolescent (13-17 years old) and young adult (18-22 years old) age groups are represented. In order to acknowledge the suggestion that males' and females' brains develop at differing rates during adolescence, results will be separated by sex. It is predicted that a positive correlation will be seen between age and performance on SoA tasks for both males and females.
A sense of agency (SoA) refers to an individual's awareness of their control over self-produced motor actions and the external consequences of those actions (Pacherie, 2008). It has been suggested that children and elderly adults possess a reduced SoA in comparison to young adults (Cavazzana et al., 2017). However, limited research has focused on the development of SoA during adolescence (Sokol, Hammond, Kuebli and Sweetman, 2015). It is important to study the development of SoA within adolescence in order to gain a full understanding of how SoA develops in typically-developing individuals.
Method
The aim of the proposed research is to study the development of agency in healthy individuals. Individuals' SoA will be measured using an SoA judgment task, as used by Metacalfe et al. (2010). Participants ages will range from 8-22 years old, with stratified sampling methods utilized to ensure members of child (8-12 years old), adolescent (13-17 years old) and young adult (18-22 years old) age groups are represented. In order to acknowledge the suggestion that males' and females' brains develop at differing rates during adolescence, results will be separated by sex. It is predicted that a positive correlation will be seen between age and performance on SoA tasks for both males and females.