Abstract
The following thesis proposes to study the anticipation of body-related effects. Our work is based on the ideo-motor theory (James, 1890) in which the idea of movement triggers an action. Following the few studies on the anticipation of body-related effects, we hypothesized that tactile and proprioceptive effects were anticipated depending on how the action was performed. More precisely, we have studied in a first experiment the effect of a contingency of intensity between a response and a tactile effect; a second experiment focused on the phenomenon of proprioceptive attenuation from a tactile effect; a third experiment emphasized the anticipation of motor fluency, understood as a proprioceptive effect provided by movement. These experiments were enriched by two other studies on (1) the anticipation of a tactile effect during an action and (2) the perceptive judgment of a tactile effect. Finally, we have extended these studies into a child developmental perspective and in the field of motor impairment following brain injury. Taken together, the empirical evidence of this work highlights the role of body-related effects in anticipating an action. These results are discussed in light of recent theories on the prediction of effects of action, which rests on the notion of temporality. They provide an additional contribution of ideomotor action. In addition, they provide a relevant theoretical framework for studying body-related effects in the field of brain injury. Finally, based on our empirical data and their discussion in terms of prediction, we propose research perspectives in motor impairment, tool use disorders or children with a neonatal arterial ischemic stroke.