Banishing the control homunculi in studies of action control and behaviour change

old_uid13522
titleBanishing the control homunculi in studies of action control and behaviour change
start_date2014/02/28
schedule11h-12h
onlineno
detailsInvité d'Isabelle Blanchette
summaryFor centuries, human self-control has fascinated scientists and nonscientists alike. Current theories often attribute it to an executive control system. But even though executive control receives a great deal of attention across disciplines, most aspects of it are still poorly understood. Many theories rely on an ill-defined set of ‘homunculi’ doing jobs like 'response inhibition' or ‘updating’ without explaining how they do so. Furthermore, it is not alway appreciated that control takes place across different time-scales. These two issues hamper major advances. In this presentation, I will focus on the mechanistic basis for the executive control of actions. I propose an integrated account of action control that includes the processes of attentional selection, action selection, and action execution. These processes are modulated via error-correction or outcome-evaluation mechanisms, preparation, and task rules maintained in working- and long-term memory. I will also consider how executive control of actions becomes automatised with practice. Finally, I will discuss how the application of this unified framework in clinical domains can increase our understanding of control deficits and provide a theoretical basis for the development of novel ‘behavioural change’ interventions.
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