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In message-based health interventions, peripheral cues such as motion and color capture exogenous attention. These cues may elicit approach and avoidance motivation and the core ingredients of persuasion (argument framing, source of the message, and persuasion knowledge). In two studies, we presented participants with persuasive messages about a hand sanitizer. Messages varied by the framing of the arguments (gain vs. loss) and by the source of the message (healthcare industry vs. public health agency). In Study 1 (N = 137), the forward apparent motion of the hand sanitizer bottle compared to a backward apparent motion increased a positive attitude toward the hand sanitizer, the intention to buy it, and ease of judgment. In Study 2 (N = 280), a small main positive effect of a green background was observed for attractiveness of the hand sanitizer, but only when a green background followed a red one. Green (vs. red) background increased willingness to buy the hand sanitizer. We observed no main effects of argument framing or source of the message. The discussion emphasizes approach and avoidance motivation as a common framework for understanding the respective contribution of peripheral cues and core ingredients of messages to the persuasion process.

Merely seeing large objects (e.g., apples) potentiates power grip whereas seeing small objects (e.g., strawberries) potentiates precision grip. According to the embodied cognition account, this potentiation effect reflects automatic access to object representation, including the grip usually associated with the object. Alternatively, this effect might be due to an overlap between magnitude codes used to code manipulable objects and magnitude codes used to code responses outcomes. In Experiment 1, participants saw objects usually grasped with a power or precision grip and had to press keys either with their forefinger or with their palm, each response generating a low or high tone (i.e., a large vs. small perceptual outcome, respectively). Tones were automatically delivered by headphones after the responses have been made in line with the ideomotor theories according to which voluntary actions are carried out due to the anticipation of their outcomes. Consistent with the magnitude-coding hypothesis, response times were shorter when the object and the anticipated response outcome were of the same magnitude than when they were not. These results were also consistent with a between-experiment analysis. In Experiments 2 and 3, we investigated to what extent removing or switching the outcomes during the experiment influence the potentiation effect. Our results support that the potentiation effect of grasping behaviours could be due to the compatibility between magnitude codes rather than to the involvement of motor representations. Our results also suggest a spontaneous use of the magnitude of response outcomes to code responses, as well as the flexibility of this coding processes when responses outcomes are altered.

Merely perceiving objects usually grasped with a power or a precision grip (e.g., an apple vs. a cherry) potentiate power-grip and precision-grip responses, respectively. According to the size-coding account, this potentiation effect is due to the compatibility between size codes associated with both stimuli and responses, rather than to the simulation of motor information stored at a conceptual level (i.e., the embodied account). At the stimulus level, size-coding would occur, because objects associated with a power grip are usually presented in a larger visual size than objects associated with a precision grip. However, this explanation is challenged by results, showing that reading nouns of objects associated with power or precision grip also leads to potentiation effects, even though the visual size of the displayed object is no longer perceived. Therefore, we designed three experiments to better understand this word-based potentiation effect and to investigate whether it relies on size codes. Our results showed a word-based potentiation effect only when the object nouns were interleaved with pictures depicting the objects in their typical visual size. We discuss the contributions of these results for both the size-coding account and the embodied account of the potentiation effect of grasping behaviors.

Several recent studies have supported the existence of a link between spatial processing and some aspects of mathematical reasoning, including mental arithmetic. Some of these studies suggested that people are more accurate when performing arithmetic operations for which the operands appeared in the lower-left and upper-right spaces than in the upper-left and lower-right spaces. However, this cross-over Horizontality × Verticality interaction effect on arithmetic accuracy was only apparent for multiplication, not for addition. In these studies, the authors used a spatio-temporal synchronous operand presentation in which all the operands appeared simultaneously in the same part of space along the horizontal and vertical dimensions. In the present paper, we report studies designed to investigate whether these results can be generalized to mental arithmetic tasks using a spatio-temporal asynchronous operand presentation. We present three studies in which participants had to solve addition (Study 1a), subtraction (Study 1b), and multiplication (Study 2) in which the operands appeared successively at different locations along the horizontal and vertical dimensions. We found that the cross-over Horizontality × Verticality interaction effect on arithmetic accuracy emerged for addition but not for subtraction and multiplication. These results are consistent with our predictions derived from the spatial polarity correspondence account and suggest interesting directions for the study of the link between spatial processing and mental arithmetic performances.

International audience; Motion as encoded in linguistic cues is used to differentiate affective valence and dominance. Participants were invited to rate their affective responses to different words along valence and dominance scales. The words were nouns describing static cues and verbs describing motion, connected to DOWN/UP and Avoidance/Approach cues. The results of three studies showed that valence and dominance could be differentiated through syntax and semantics of motion. On one hand, dominance feelings, compared to valence ones, are particularly influenced by motion encoded in syntactic classes (verbs vs. nouns). On the other hand, valence feelings, compared to dominance ones, are influenced by a semantics of motion through DOWN/UP and Avoidance/Approach cues, considered as polarities. A polarity correspondence effect is proposed to explain these results.

International audience; Performing approach vs. avoidance behaviors (arm flexion vs. arm extension) on the one hand, and lateralized peripheral activations (left side vs. right side) of the motivational systems of approach vs. avoidance, on the other hand, have been shown to impact on cognitive functioning (Cretenet, & Dru, 2009), mainly in judgment tasks. When a unilateral motor congruent behavior; that is, a behavior that activates the same motivational system (e.g., flexion of the right arm) was performed during a judgment task, participants' use of complex, interactive information integration rules was facilitated. No effect was, however, found when simpler, additive rules were involved (Mullet, Cretenet, & Dru, 2014). Three experiments are reported here that examined the effect of bilateral motor behaviors (e.g., flexion of the right arm and extension of the left arm) on the implementation of information integration rules. In Studies 1 and 2, two judgment tasks similar to the ones used by Mullet et al. (2014) were used: (a) a complex task in which participants judged a person's attractiveness from personality information, and (b) a simpler task in which they attributed blame according to bad deeds. It was found that similar motor behaviors performed by the two arms (e.g., flexion of both arms), in contrast to dissimilar ones, facilitated the use of complex, interactive information integration rules. No effect was found in the case of simpler integration rules. In Study 3, these results were replicated in a judgment task in which the complexity of the integration rule varied depending on the instructions given. Overall, when bilateral motor behaviors were performed during judgment, facilitation in the use of complex integration rules no longer depended on motivational congruence as in the case of unilateral motor behavior. It depended on symmetry/similarity of behaviors.

International audience; Previous studies yielded evidence for an interaction between age and valence in numerous cognitive processes. But, to date, no research has been conducted in the field of motor skills. In this study, we examined the age-related differences in the organization of an emotionally goal-directed locomotion task. Faced with a pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral picture displayed to the side of a stop button, younger and older adults were instructed to walk toward the button (intermediate goal) and push it to turn-off the picture (final goal). Kinematic and ground reaction forces were recorded. The main findings indicated that older adults' response times (RTs) did not differ across the valence picture. The fastest RTs were found in younger adults when faced with pleasant pictures, suggesting that older people may focus either on intermediate or final goals, depending on their value of pleasantness, and prioritize positive goals. We also found that the spatial coding of locomotion (trajectory and final body position) was affected in the same way by the valence of the intermediate goal in both age groups. Taken together, these findings provide new perspectives regarding the potential role of the emotional valence of the intermediate and final goals on the cognitive processes involved in action coding, such as in mental representations of action in older adults.

International audience; The concept of motor fluency, defined as the positive marking associated with the easy realisation of a movement, is used to explain the various compatibility effects observed between emotional valence and lateral space. In this work, we propose that these effects arise from the motor fluency simulation induced by emotionally positive stimuli. In a perceptual line bisection task (Landmark task) we primed each trial with an emotionally positive word, negative word, neutral word or no word before asking participants to verbally indicate the side of the vertical mark on the horizontal line (Experiment 1) or to indicate the longest side of the line (Experiment 2). After positive words and for bisected lines, participants’ responses were biased towards their dominant side for both right- and left-handers and similarly under the two different instructions. As movements of the dominant hand or in the dominant hemispace have been described as the most fluent lateral actions, this result supports our hypothesis that positive stimuli induce a mental simulation of fluent lateral movements. Furthermore, the replication of the effect under opposite instructions between the two experiments is in line with an explanation in terms of a bias in response selection rather than variations in perceptual content.

International audience; We examined whether combined motor or spatial polarities could influence accuracy in two mathematical operations. Four experiments were conducted and showed that, when two corresponding polarities were activated, accuracy in multiplicative operations was greater than when non-corresponding polarities were activated, whereas no effect was found for additive operations. These results were established with motor cues (Left/Right and Arm Extension/Flexion, as behavioral approach-avoidance tendencies) and perceptual spatial cues (Left/Right and DOWN/UP cues). A polarity correspondence effect was established and proposed for multiplication. A combination of polarities was associated with a corresponding combination of numerical digits, assessed with mathematical operations, such as multiplication.

International audience; In four experiments, we tested whether embodied triggers may reduce stereotype threat. We predicted that left-side sensorimotor inductions would increase cognitive performance under stereotype threat, because such inductions are linked to avoidance motivation among right-handers. This sensorimotor-mental congruence hypothesis rests on regulatory fit research showing that stereotype threat may be reduced by avoidance-oriented interventions, and motor congruence research showing positive effects when two parameters of a motor action activate the same motivational system (avoidance or approach). Results indicated that under stereotype threat, cognitive performance was higher when participants contracted their left hand (Study 1) or when the stimuli were presented on the left side of the visual field (Studies 2-4), as compared with right-hand contraction or right-side visual stimulation. These results were observed on math (Studies 1, 2, and 4) and Stroop (Study 3) performance. An indirect effect of congruence on math performance through subjective fluency was also observed.

International audience; In this research, we examined whether emotional valence could correspond to a continuous lateral bias in space, according to a mental metaphor that establishes the mapping between a concrete domain (space) and an abstract one (valence). Because acting with one's dominant hand is associated with fluency and positive valence (the bodily specificity hypothesis, or BSH), we asked strong right- and left-handers to perform two spatial location tasks using emotional faces with seven levels of valence. We hypothesized and showed through two studies that, according to the BSH, extreme valenced stimuli (as compared to moderate and weak ones) would be located more at the extremity of a horizontal line, according to the correspondences between handedness and the different valences of the stimuli. This research establishes that spatial and continuous mapping of emotions was obtained while controlling for motivational direction.

This investigation tests a reconceptualization of ethnocentrism based primarily on Sumner's definitions. Ethnocentrism is reconceptualized as ethnic group self-centeredness, with four intergroup expressions of ingroup preference, superiority, purity, and exploitativeness, and two intragroup expressions of group cohesion and devotion. The reconceptualization was supported in Study 1 among 350 New Zealand participants and in Study 2 among 212 US, 208 Serbian, and 279 French participants. Ethnocentrism in each country consisted of two correlated second-order factors representing intergroup and intragroup ethnocentrism and six first-order factors representing the six primary expressions. Analyses in Study 2 supported the measurement invariance of the scale and a third-order factor model, with one ethnocentrism factor at the broadest level of generalization. Ethnocentrism was empirically distinct from outgroup negativity and mere ingroup positivity. Intragroup ethnocentrism appeared primarily based on ethnic insecurity, personal self-transcendence, and ethnic identification, whereas intergroup ethnocentrism appeared primarily based on self-aggrandizement, warlikeness, and generally chauvinistic attitudes. Accordingly, although related, the two kinds of ethnocentrism tend to have quite differential implications for group attitudes and behaviors. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article was published online on 31 December 2008. Errors were subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected [date to be added later].

These experiments examined the cognitive processes involved in judging the quality of play of a player competing against another player and the overall interest of a competitive game as a function of the players’ respective ability and motivation levels. For the quality of play of one player, a very simple information integration rule was found. Quality of play was judged almost exclusively as an additive function of the ability and motivation levels of the player. For the interest of the game, an apparently complex but fundamentally simple integration rule was found. For a game to be very interesting, players had to be both highly able and highly motivated; for a game to be somewhat interesting, each player had to be at least either highly able or highly motivated; and all other configurations corresponded to lower expected levels of interest.

Boxing competitions with two rounds between French and Arab students (N = 58) were used to investigate intergroup relations and social identity. Behavioral measures were observed in two rounds of the competition to assess possible changes depending on threat conditions and strength of ethnic identification. Analyses showed that behavioral effort in round 2 was not influenced by the degree of ethnic identification or threat conditions. However, behavioral competitiveness (the number of initiatives and ripostes attempted relative to the opponent's) in round 2 was greater in the higher threat condition for high ethnic identifiers. Behavioral competitiveness decreased slightly from the no-threat to the threat condition for low ethnic identifiers. The results are discussed in terms of the social identity processes that might influence behavioral responses in naturalistic intergroup settings.

L'objectif de cette étude a été d'examiner comment des joueurs de football de différents âges structuraient plusieurs informations afin de produire une décision en football. Le cadre théorique de ces études a été la théorie fonctionnelle de la cognition (Anderson, 1996). Ces études ont examiné la manière avec laquelle des joueurs d'équipe de football de différent âge (12–14, 15–16, 17–18 ans et adultes) ont combiné plusieurs informations (importance de la compétition, le statut numérique de l'équipe, le score, et le temps restant à jouer) pour décider d'une remise en jeu rapide à la fin d'un match. Les résultats attestent de l'existence de bases de connaissances opérantes pour juger du caractère approprié de ces décisions et de leur différente structure en fonction des groupes d'âges. The aim of this study was to examine how different age groups organize various informational cues for decision-making in soccer game. The theoretical framework for these studies was the Functional Theory of Cognition (Anderson, 1996). The way in which team sport players of different ages (12–14, 15–16, 17–18 years old and seniors) combine different informational cues (relative importance of the game, numerical status of the team, current score, and time left to play) for deciding a quick restart of play near the end of a match was examined. The basic findings are consistent with the proposition that the knowledge bases at work for judging the appropriateness of this type of sport decisions are structured differently depending of the age groups. 55;2

Two experiments were conducted to examine how activation of the motivational systems of approach and withdrawal (arm flexion vs. extension) through 2 different bodily mechanisms (right arm vs. left arm) influenced participants' evaluations of neutral Chinese ideographs. Study 1 found that unilateral flexion on the right side and unilateral extension on the left side led to more positive evaluations than unilateral flexion on the left side and unilateral extension on the right side. Using bilateral movements, Study 2 found that simultaneous performance of a right-arm flexion and a left-arm extension led to more positive evaluations than a left-arm flexion and a right-arm extension. A motor congruence hypothesis was offered to account for these findings.

The aim of this paper was to study the relationship between an achievement ego scale and a hypercompetitive scale to assess a more general competitive disposition. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of 232 and 186 sport science students’ responses revealed that these two scales measure different behavioral tendencies. It seems that an ego scale measures a goal performance, in terms of social comparison, while a hypercompetitive attitude scale explains the ideological consequences of this comparison in terms of authoritarian and dogmatic thinking. A second study (n=178) tested this difference showing that the ego scale correlated only with a behavioral measure of intolerance, taken from the dogmatism scale, while a hypercompetitive attitude scale correlated with this behavioral dimension and with an ideological factor of dogmatism and authoritarianism.

In the framework of intergroup relationships, Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Real Conflict Theory (RCT) both hypothesize a positive relationship between social identification and ethnocentrism in threatening en-vironments. The RCT proposes that conflict for scarce resources between groups determines ingroup identification while the SIT predicts that intensity of social identification leads to outgroup hostility in threatening contexts. An examination of these relationships is undertaken in a competitive sports context with the help of the dogmatism scale. Relationships between Belief and Activism Toward One Cause, as a social identification measure, and Out-group Authoritarian Intolerance, as an ethnocentrism measure were studied across two experimental conditions (neutral vs. competitive). The results describe a positive effect of Out-group Authoritarian Intolerance, measured in the neutral condition, on Belief and Activism Toward One Cause, measured in the competitive condition, validating RCT. The results are discussed based on complementary individual and collective analyses (i.e., dogmatism and intergroup relationship theories) of ethnocentrism.

International audience; Following metaphorical theories of affect, several research studies have shown that the spatial cues along a vertical dimension are useful in qualifying emotional experience (HAPPINESS is UP, SADNESS is DOWN). Three experiments were conducted to examine the role of vertical motion in affective judgment. They showed that positive stimuli moving UPWARD were evaluated more positively than those moving DOWNWARD, whereas negative stimuli moving DOWNWARD were evaluated as less negative than those moving UPWARD. They showed a valenced congruency effect, but an alternative hypothesis in terms of MORE is UP and LESS is DOWN was also examined. Finally, fluency mechanisms were investigated to confirm that relationships between affect and verticality were in accordance with a valenced congruency effect.

International audience; Several studies have shown that social judgement may be defined by two dimensions, competence and warmth. From a functional perspective, embodied theories have proposed that warmth may be associated with physical distance, whereas competence may be connected to a vertical motion (UPWARD/DOWNWARD). Two main studies were conducted to examine if approach-avoidance and vertical motion could influence affective judgements about traits representing these two social dimensions. Valence judgements about warmth traits that were moving towards the subject resulted in more positive judgement than when they were moving away (approach/avoidance). Furthermore, competence traits were judged more positively when they moved in an UPWARD direction, compared with when they moved DOWNWARD. A metacognitive account of confidence is offered to explain how cognitions about warmth and competence are connected to the physical world.

International audience; Performing motor behaviours (arm flexion vs. extension) that correspond also to lateralized peripheral activations (left vs. right side) of the motivational systems of approach versus avoidance have been previously shown to impact cognitive performance and judgment. Three experiments are reported that examined the combined effect of these variables, as a kind of motor integration, on the implementation of information integration rules in various judgment tasks: judging of a person's attractiveness from personality information, judging of the severity of health risk from alcohol and tobacco intake, and attributing blame to a perpetrator from information as to intent and severity of harm done. It was found that the congruence between these motivational activations consistently influenced the use of interactive information integration rules, compared to additive ones. This set of findings showed that cognitive rules might also be embodied. Motor integration affects cognitive integration in judgment.

In recent work, we showed that the judgment of affective stimuli is influenced by the degree of congruence between apparently innate hemispheric dispositions (left hemisphere positive and approach, right hemisphere negative and avoidance), and the type of movement produced by the contralateral arm (flexion-approach; extension-avoidance). Incongruent movements (e.g., right arm extension) were associated with attenuation of affective valuations. In the present study, we replicated these results. We also assessed confidence in judgments as a function of stimulus valence and congruence and determined that confidence is maximal with congruent movements and highly positive or negative stimuli, suggesting that congruence effects on affective valuation could be mediated by confidence effects. However, in a second experiment, involving judgments regarding segmented lines, congruence effects were observed only for bisected lines, for which confidence was lowest. Thus, confidence does not provide a unifying explanation for congruence effects in the performance of these two tasks. (JINS, 2011, 17, 289–294)

International audience; Recent research has shown that performing approach versus avoidance behaviors (arm flexion vs. extension) effectively influences cognitive functioning. In another area, lateralized peripheral activations (left vs. right side) of the motivational systems of approach versus avoidance were linked to various performances in cognitive tasks. By combining these 2 avenues of research, the influence of motor behaviors on flexible thinking was examined through the use of lateralized approach or/and avoidance behaviors. In 5 experiments reported in this article, a combination of the laterality and arm flexion versus extension variables successfully determined flexibility-rigidity functioning, consistent with the motor congruence hypothesis (J. Cretenet & V. Dru, 2004). Through these experiments, this result has been replicated with perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of flexibility, contributing to a better understanding of the relationships between bodily components, affect, and cognition.

International audience; One hundred and seventy nine students first answered RWA and SDO scales were assigned to experimental conditions that primed different forms of self-categorization, and finally responded for prejudice scales for three target ethnic groups. The results showed first, that RWA and SDO correlate with prejudice in a control condition. Second, RWA and SDO correlated differently with prejudice depending on the way in which membership to social group was primed. When a prime as member of a group oriented to devotion to the in-group norms and values was used, the correlation of RWA and in-group identification with prejudice was significant, but when a prime as member of a competitive group was used, only SDO correlated significantly with prejudice. The results were discussed as identifying two different schemas of social categorization according to which RWA and SDO expressed sets of social beliefs and attitudes relevant for inter-group relations.

International audience; Two experiments were conducted in order to examine how different bilateral motor activations of the approach and avoidance motivational systems influenced participants' evaluations of valenced stimuli (figurative expressions and pictures of everyday situations). The first Study (Study 1) showed that participants judged valenced expressions according to the motor congruence model put forward by Cretenet and Dru (2004). This may depend on the compatibility of the valenced stimuli with the congruency of the bilateral motor behaviors that involved two unilateral motor behaviors that are congruent to each other. These results were duplicated in Study 2 with the use of valenced pictures taken from the International Affective Picture System. The overall results shed new light on the influence of motor behaviors on judgments, by determining the motor system as operative in evaluative mechanisms, and not merely a simple executive function of higher cognitive processes.

Two experiments were conducted so as to examine how different motor activations (unilateral contraction and extension-flexion paradigms) of the motivational systems of approach and avoidance influenced participants' evaluations of valenced stimuli (figurative expressions and everyday life pictures). The results of the first Study (Study 1) showed that a motor congruence model was operative when processing positive facial expressions, this phenomenon was reversed, however, when negative faces were processed. This occurrence disappeared when weaker negative or positive faces were evaluated. These results were replicated in Study 2 with the use of valenced pictures taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The overall results were analyzed as a combination of conceptual-motor compatibility and motor congruence models throwing new light on the influence of motor behaviors on judgments.

One experiment was conducted to examine the influence of bilateral motor actions involving two parameters of movement (flexion vs extension of the arm and laterality as bodily activation of different motivational systems) on judgements. Arm flexion or unilateral right contraction (involving the positive and approach motivational system) has been shown to determine positive evaluations, whereas arm extension or unilateral left contraction (involving the negative and withdrawal motivational system) has led to negative evaluations. Participants (N = 72) had to evaluate neutral Chinese ideographs after performing one of four combined bilateral motor actions (right flexion/left extension, bilateral flexion, bilateral extension, and left flexion/right extension). Results showed that bilateral congruent motor action (right flexion/left extension as two activations of the positive or approach motivational system) and bilateral non-congruent motor action (left flexion/right extension as two activations of the negative or withdrawal motivational system) led respectively to positive and negative judgements, whereas bilateral flexion and bilateral extension determined neutral judgements. These results help understanding of how the motor system operates to process affective cues.

Two studies examined whether simple algebraic rules that have been shown to be operative in many applied settings may also be found in sport decision-making. The theoretical framework for these studies was the Functional Theory of Cognition (Anderson, Contributions to information integration theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996). The way in which novices but already experienced team sport players (soccer, basketball, and handball players) combine different informational cues (relative importance of the game, numerical status of the team, current score, and time left to play) for deciding a quick restart of play near the end of a match was examined. The basic finding are consistent with the proposition that the knowledge bases at work for judging the appropriateness of this type of sport decisions are structured according to simple algebraic rules. 58;4

International audience; We examined performance schemata in dyadic competitive and cooperative situations, that is, the ways people perceive the relationship between performance level, capacity level, and degree of motivation in situations in which two people confront or collaborate with one another. In Experiment 1, 104 participants judged the possible performance of Person A, whose ability and motivation levels were communicated, competing against Person B, whose ability and motivation levels were also communicated. When judging A’s performance, participants seemed first to assess the difficulty of the task facing A and second to integrate information relative to A according to a rule with changing parameters already proposed by Surber (1981a, 1981b). In Experiment 2, 140 participants judged either the possible performance of Person A in a cooperative situation or the possible performance of the A–B team using the same material. Results showed that people judge A’s performance or the team’s performance using a very simple additive rule.

Distal attribution refers to the capacity to attribute localization to proximal sensations (light on the retina, sound waves, etc.) in the distal space. Works in sensory substitution allowed identifying and testing this process. This thesis aims to investigate distal attribution thanks to a joint and integrated approach of sensorimotor and ideomotor theories. In two studies, we use a classic ideomotor procedure consisting in associating proximal sensory consequences to movements. The first study shows that the attribution of distal characteristics to proximal sensations is determined by the bidirectional association sensations-movements. Moreover, we show that movement orientation is consubstantial with distal characteristics we confer to sensory consequences. The second study replicates these results and extends them to characteristics related to the range of movement. These experiments bring us to define distal attribution as an embodied process depending on an ideomotor mechanism, thus making our studies fall within a constructivist approach. Theoretical as well as experimental limits to our studies invite us to propose ideas for new experiments aiming to better define the importance of movement in perception; L’attribution distale réfère à notre capacité d’attribuer à nos sensations proximales (lumière sur la rétine, ondes sonores, etc.) une localisation dans l’espace distal. Les travaux issus de la substitution sensorielle ont permis d’identifier et de tester ce processus. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’investiguer l’attribution distale grâce à une approche conjointe et intégrée des théories sensorimotrices et idéomotrices. Dans deux études, nous utilisons une procédure idéomotrice classique consistant à associer des conséquences sensorielles proximales à des mouvements. La première étude montre que l’attribution de caractéristiques distales aux sensations proximales est déterminée par l’association bidirectionnelle sensations – mouvements. De plus, nous montrons que l’orientation du mouvement est consubstantielle des caractéristiques distales que nous conférons aux conséquences sensorielles. La seconde étude réplique ces résultats et les étend aux caractéristiques liées à l’amplitude du mouvement. Ces expériences nous amènent à définir l’attribution distale comme un processus sensori-moteur et relevant d’un mécanisme idéomoteur, inscrivant ainsi nos études dans une perspective constructiviste. Les limites théoriques et expérimentales de nos études nous conduisent alors à proposer de nouvelles expériences visant à mieux définir l’importance du mouvement dans la perception.