Study title

Here we present data corresponding to a study in which we investigated the necessary conditions to induce changes in the represented length of the arm when manipulating the spatial location of the sounds produced by one’s own hand tapping. Across two experiments, we asked participants to tap with their arm on a surface while extending their arm. We manipulated the tapping sounds to originate at double the distance to the tapping locations, as well as their synchrony to the action, which is known to affect feelings of agency over the sounds. Kinaesthetic cues were manipulated by having additional conditions in which participants did not displace their arm but kept tapping either close (Experiment 1) or far (Experiment 2) from their body torso. We measured represented arm length (perceived tactile distances on the tapping arm) and bodily feelings when exposed to the various conditions. Results show that both the feelings of agency over the action sounds and kinaesthetic cues signalling arm displacement when displacement of the sound source occurs are necessary to observe changes in perceived tactile distance on the arm. Moreover, our results provide the first evidence of consciously perceived changes in arm-representation evoked by action sounds and suggest that the observed changes in perceived tactile distance relate to experienced arm elongation. The data in this collection are part of The Hearing Body project, a project investigating how the manipulation of action sounds may alter the mental representation of one's body and the related emotional state and body behaviour. Other data collections part of The Hearing Body project have been deposited (Please see Related Resources section below). All parts 1 to 4 consist of experimental data, but they are data from different studies. Part 1 and 2 contain subjective reports and behavioural data, and Part 3 and 4 contain subjective reports, behavioural data and data on electrodermal activity changes. Results were...