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Lecturer
Thomas Goschke, Technische Universität Dresden

Content
The past decade has witnessed a dramatic increase of research in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience on cognitive and neural mechanisms of volitional control and intentional action. At the same time, some have argued that conscious will is an illusion, because that our decisions and actions are determined by unconscious brain processes. The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to and critically discuss empirical studies and theoretical models of volitional control including their implications for philosophical questions surrounding the concept of free will. Specific questions include:
• What is the role of conscious intentions and unconscious processes in voluntary action?
• What does neuroimaging tell us about brain systems mediating volitional control?
• How are volitional control processes modulated by emotions?
• How is volitional control itself “controlled” and adapted to changing task demands?
• Can volition be modeled computationally?
• Is the feeling of conscious will an illusion?
• What it the role impaired volitional control in mental disorders such as addiction?

References

• Goschke T. (2011). The dynamics of intention and volition: Control dilemmas in adaptive action. To appear in: W. Prinz, M. Beisert, & A. Herwig (Eds.). Tutorials in Action Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Goschke, T. (2007). Volition und kognitive Kontrolle. In J. Müsseler (Ed.), Allgemeine Psychologie (2 ed., pp. 232-293). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
• Goschke, T. (2006). Der bedingte Wille: Willensfreiheit aus der Sicht der kognitiven Neurowissenschaft. In: G. Roth & K.-J. Grün (Hg.), Das Gehirn und seine Freiheit. Beiträge zur neurowissenschaftlichen Grundlegung der Philosophie (S. 107-156). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• Goschke, T. (2003). Voluntary action and cognitive control from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. In S. Maasen, W. Prinz & G. Roth (Eds.), Voluntary action: Brains, minds, and sociality. (pp. 49-85). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Haggard, P. (2008). Human volition: towards a neuroscience of will. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(12), 934-946.
  Linser, K. & Goschke, T. (2007). Unconscious modulation of the conscious experience of voluntary control. Cognition, 104, 459-475.
• Mansouri, F. A., Tanaka, K., & Buckley, M. J. (2009). Conflict-induced behavioural adjustment: a clue to the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(2), 141-152.
• Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167-202.
• Roskies, A. L. (2010). How does neuroscience affect our conception of volition? Annual Review of Neuroscience, 33(1), 109-130.
• Wegner, D. M. (2002). The mind’s best trick: how we experience conscious will. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 65-69.

CV

Thomas Goschke is Professor of General Psychology and Acting Director of the Neuroimaging Center of the Department of Psychology at the Technische Universität Dresden. From 2004-2009 he was head of the Department of Psychology. His research interests include volition and cognitive control, memory for intentions, influences of emotions on cognitive processes, and the role of unconscious processes in implicit learning, decision making, and action control. He also works on philosophical implications of empirical findings for philosophical conceptions of willed action.