Mechanisms of affective action control

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas B. Eder
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2010 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 181967648

Purposeful action is directed at an attainment of desired outcomes and at a prevention of undesired outcomes. Contemporary models typically explain this action organization with basic motivational systems of approach and avoidance but leave the architecture of these systems largely unexplained. This research project is designed to close this gap with a new theoretical framework that is organized around the central idea of a bi-directional response-outcome association (ideomotor theory). For the second phase of the research project, it is planned to continue the experiments and to examine new assumptions of the framework. Specifically, experiments are proposed that investigate (i) processes related to the acquisition and retrieval of knowledge about (un)desired action consequences; (ii) motivational effects of anticipated aversive action consequences; (iii) an influence of motivational conflicts on continuous movement control; (iv) a response coherence of different avoidance reactions. Main goal of the research project is an improved understanding of affective-emotional influences on action control.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Bernhard Hommel