When people manipulate moving objects such as motor vehicles or video game avatars, the sense of being "in control" depends on monitoring the predicted and actually perceived consequences of their actions. Previous work has shown how situational variables (e.g. predictability of action effects and achievement of goals) influence the sense of control during visuomotor tasks. However, relatively little is known about individual differences in action monitoring ability in non-clinical populations. This research investigated whether stable psychological traits predict sensitivity to loss of control by measuring response times to the onset of loss of control in a video game-like tracking task. Response times were correlated with individual differences on a battery of tests with theoretical links to action monitoring and sense of control.
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