What governs our sense of being an agent? An experimental and electrophysiological approach of how disturbances in the intention-action-outcome chain modulate sense of agency.

For centuries, criminal and deviant behaviors have always been considered as a mystery because they do not represent the social norm. Why do some people hurt others or themselves? What guides the decision to perform good or bad actions? What is the role played by individual differences in such choices? Criminal behavior is not an unitary phenomenon and many approaches can be proposed to understand it. In the present thesis, I focused on the subjective experience that accompanies our actions commonly known as the sense of agency. The sense of agency can be defined as the experience of being the author of an action and its consequences. Therefore, understanding how the subjective experience of being responsible for an outcome influences our actions is a key issue for the notion of criminal responsibility. Throughout each chapter of the present thesis, I aimed at systematically explore how disturbances in the intention-action-outcome chain impact the sense of agency, by using behavioral and electrophysiological methods. I hope the methods and findings presented in this thesis will provide new routes to explore the human mind and particularly the sense of agency in the context of moral responsibility.Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation