Advanced search
2 files | 4.43 MB Add to list

Does belief in free will influence biological motion perception?

Wei Peng (UGent) , Emiel Cracco (UGent) , Nikolaus F. Troje and Marcel Brass (UGent)
Author
Organization
Project
Abstract
Previous research suggests that belief in free will correlates with intentionality attribution. However, whether belief in free will is also related to more basic social processes is unknown. Based on evidence that biological motion contains intentionality cues that observers spontaneously extract, we investigate whether people who believe more in free will, or in related constructs, such as dualism and determinism, would be better at picking up such cues and therefore at detecting biological agents hidden in noise, or would be more inclined to detect intentionality cues and therefore to detect biological agents even when there are none. Signal detection theory was used to measure participants' ability to detect biological motion from scrambled background noise (d ') and their response bias (c) in doing so. In two experiments, we found that belief in determinism and belief in dualism, but not belief in free will, were associated with biological motion perception. However, no causal effect was found when experimentally manipulating free will-related beliefs. In sum, our results show that biological motion perception, a low-level social process, is related to high-level beliefs about dualism and determinism.
Keywords
EXTERNAL LOCUS, DISBELIEF, PREDICTS, AGENCY

Downloads

  • Psychol Res BioMotion Beliefs Revision June05.pdf
    • full text (Accepted manuscript)
    • |
    • open access
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 2.56 MB
  • (...).pdf
    • full text (Published version)
    • |
    • UGent only
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 1.88 MB

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Peng, Wei, et al. “Does Belief in Free Will Influence Biological Motion Perception?” PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG, vol. 87, no. 3, 2023, pp. 751–67, doi:10.1007/s00426-022-01704-9.
APA
Peng, W., Cracco, E., Troje, N. F., & Brass, M. (2023). Does belief in free will influence biological motion perception? PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG, 87(3), 751–767. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01704-9
Chicago author-date
Peng, Wei, Emiel Cracco, Nikolaus F. Troje, and Marcel Brass. 2023. “Does Belief in Free Will Influence Biological Motion Perception?” PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG 87 (3): 751–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01704-9.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Peng, Wei, Emiel Cracco, Nikolaus F. Troje, and Marcel Brass. 2023. “Does Belief in Free Will Influence Biological Motion Perception?” PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG 87 (3): 751–767. doi:10.1007/s00426-022-01704-9.
Vancouver
1.
Peng W, Cracco E, Troje NF, Brass M. Does belief in free will influence biological motion perception? PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG. 2023;87(3):751–67.
IEEE
[1]
W. Peng, E. Cracco, N. F. Troje, and M. Brass, “Does belief in free will influence biological motion perception?,” PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG, vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 751–767, 2023.
@article{8772572,
  abstract     = {{Previous research suggests that belief in free will correlates with intentionality attribution. However, whether belief in free will is also related to more basic social processes is unknown. Based on evidence that biological motion contains intentionality cues that observers spontaneously extract, we investigate whether people who believe more in free will, or in related constructs, such as dualism and determinism, would be better at picking up such cues and therefore at detecting biological agents hidden in noise, or would be more inclined to detect intentionality cues and therefore to detect biological agents even when there are none. Signal detection theory was used to measure participants' ability to detect biological motion from scrambled background noise (d ') and their response bias (c) in doing so. In two experiments, we found that belief in determinism and belief in dualism, but not belief in free will, were associated with biological motion perception. However, no causal effect was found when experimentally manipulating free will-related beliefs. In sum, our results show that biological motion perception, a low-level social process, is related to high-level beliefs about dualism and determinism.}},
  author       = {{Peng, Wei and Cracco, Emiel and Troje, Nikolaus F. and Brass, Marcel}},
  issn         = {{0340-0727}},
  journal      = {{PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG}},
  keywords     = {{EXTERNAL LOCUS,DISBELIEF,PREDICTS,AGENCY}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{751--767}},
  title        = {{Does belief in free will influence biological motion perception?}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01704-9}},
  volume       = {{87}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

Altmetric
View in Altmetric
Web of Science
Times cited: