Inequivalent and Uncorrelated Response Priming in Motor Imagery and Execution

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• Frontiers in Psychology (Open Access)

Abstract

The functional equivalence view holds that motor imagery and motor execution engage similar cognitive and neural processes. Most evidence supporting this view, however, relies on subjective self-reports that may be contaminated by expectation biases. This study re-examined the commonality and differences between motor imagery and execution using a response repetition (priming) paradigm that avoids self-report. In Experiment 1, both imagery and execution prime conditions produced significant repetition effects, which were correlated. In Experiment 2, after excluding trials with detectable electromyographic (EMG) activity during the imagery condition, repetition effects remained for both conditions but their correlation dropped to non-significance. These findings provide objective evidence that motor imagery and execution rely on partially distinct executive control processes, challenging the strong form of the functional equivalence hypothesis and calling for greater methodological rigor in imagery research.

Citation

Tien, H.-P., & Chang, E. C. (2024). Inequivalent and uncorrelated response priming in motor imagery and execution. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1363495.

@article{Tien2024,
  author  = {Tien, Hsin-Ping and Chang, Erik C.},
  year    = {2024},
  title   = {Inequivalent and Uncorrelated Response Priming in Motor Imagery and Execution},
  journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume  = {15},
  pages   = {1363495},
  doi     = {10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1363495}
}