Can voluntary attention control be elicited and detected in the lab? Preliminary evidence for a dual-path model linking intention to agency

Individuals orient their attention in a voluntary fashion when they willfully shift their attention in the visual field. Volitional actions can only be elicited in the lab, however, when experimental paradigms allow sufficient expression of agential capacity. Unfortunately, the standard paradigm for eliciting voluntary attention control (VAC) does not appear to allow such expression. The present study therefore attempted to increase the elicitation of VAC by using a modified spatial cueing paradigm that granted participants greater freedom in choosing the direction of the cue. It also attempted to improve the detection of VAC by using statistical mediation analyses to examine the relations between measures of intention, agency, and performance, as well as how the magnitude of these relations might be moderated by three cue validity contexts (100%, 70%, and 25%). Based on a total sample of 720 participants, the present findings showed that the "total effect" of intention on agency can be decomposed into two paths. The "direct effect" of intention on agency generally reflects VAC in that increases in intention were associated with increases in agency, but only in the 100%-valid cue context. However, the "indirect effect" of intention on agency passes through performance, and it reflects a process that appears to be more experience based and less volitional. Altogether, the present study recommends new methods for eliciting and detecting VAC in the lab while also exposing some shortcomings in more traditional measures of VAC based on performance.