Binding and Retrieval in Action Control (BRAC)

Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 24, pp. 375–387

Abstract

Human action control relies on representations that integrate perception and action, but the relevant research is scattered over various experimental paradigms and the theorizing is overly paradigm-specific. To overcome this obstacle we propose BRAC (binding and retrieval in action control), an overarching, integrative framework that accounts for a wide range of seemingly unrelated findings by assuming 'two core processes: feature binding and retrieval'. In contrast to previous approaches, we define binding and retrieval as functionally different and separable processes that independently contribute to the observed effects. Furthermore, both processes are independently modulated by top-down and/or bottom-up processes. BRAC organizes the literature on action control in novel ways, and relates diverse independently investigated action-related phenomena from different research fields to each other.

Authors 13

1. Christian Frings corresponding

   Universität Trier

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany. Electronic address: chfrings@uni-trier.de

   Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

2. Bernhard Hommel

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of General Psychology, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

3. Iring Koch Aachen Department of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology, University of Aachen, Aachen, Germany

4. Klaus Rothermund

   Friedrich Schiller University Jena

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of General Psychology II, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Jena, Germany

5. David Dignath

   University of Freiburg

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

6. Carina G. Giesen

   Friedrich Schiller University Jena

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of General Psychology II, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Jena, Germany

7. Andrea Kiesel

   University of Freiburg

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

8. Wilfried Kunde

   University of Würzburg

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

9. Susanne Mayr

   University of Passau

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology and Human-Machine Interaction, University of Passau, Passau, Germany

   Department of Psychology and Human–Machine Interaction, University of Passau, Passau, Germany

10. Birte Moeller

    Universität Trier

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

11. Malte Möller

    University of Passau

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Psychology and Human-Machine Interaction, University of Passau, Passau, Germany

    Department of Psychology and Human–Machine Interaction, University of Passau, Passau, Germany

12. Roland Pfister

    University of Würzburg

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

13. Andrea M. Philipp Aachen Department of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology, University of Aachen, Aachen, Germany