Sense of agency modulates contextual learning in visual search

Abstract

Sense of Agency (SoA) refers to the subjective experience of control over one’s actions and their outcomes. Although agency-related action–outcome processes have been shown to influence attention, memory, and learning, it remains unclear whether the reliability of action-linked perceptual consequences shapes contextual learning. The present study examined whether contextual cueing—a form of learning in which repeated spatial layouts facilitate visual search—is modulated by two aspects of the action–outcome context. Experiment 1 compared a Free-Control condition, in which responses immediately terminated the search display, with a Constrained-Control condition, in which display offset was externally determined. Contextual cueing developed more strongly when responses reliably produced display offset. Experiment 2 tested whether configuration-specific contingencies between responses and subsequent visual outcomes modulate contextual learning. Contextual cueing was larger when old displays were more reliably followed by a response-triggered visual outcome, even though the overall frequency of such outcomes was held constant across sessions. Together, the findings provide preliminary evidence that contextual learning is sensitive to the reliability of action-linked perceptual consequences. Reliable response–effect relations and configuration-specific outcome contingencies may support the updating and stabilization of context–target associations across repeated encounters.