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Testing the independence of self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention

DOI: 10.1177/1747021819879826
Murphy, J., Brewer, R., Plans, D., Khalsa, S. S., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2020). Testing the independence of self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(1), 115–133. doi:10.1177/1747021819879826

Abstract

It has recently been proposed that measures of the perception of the state of one’s own body (“interoception”) can be categorised as one of several types depending on both how an assessment is obtained (objective measurement vs. self-report) and what is assessed (degree of interoceptive attention vs. accuracy of interoceptive perception). Under this model, a distinction is made between beliefs regarding the degree to which interoceptive signals are the object of attention and beliefs regarding one’s ability to perceive accurately interoceptive signals. This distinction is difficult to test, however, because of the paucity of measures designed to assess self-reported perception of one’s own interoceptive accuracy. This article therefore reports on the development of such a measure, the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS). Use of this measure enables assessment of the proposed distinction between beliefs regarding attention to, and accuracy in perceiving, interoceptive signals. Across six studies, we report on the development of the IAS and, importantly, its relationship with measures of trait self-reported interoceptive attention, objective interoceptive accuracy, confidence in the accuracy of specific interoceptive percepts, and metacognition with respect to interoceptive accuracy. Results support the distinction between individual differences in perceived attention towards interoceptive information and the accuracy of interoceptive perception.

Authors

  • Jennifer Murphy2
  • Rebecca Brewer2
  • David Plans1
  • Sahib S Khalsa1
  • Caroline Catmur1
  • Geoffrey Bird1

What This Study Is About

Researchers wanted to know if "paying attention to your body" and "actually being good at sensing what's happening inside" are two different skills. They created a new survey called the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS) to help tell these two things apart.

How They Studied It

The researchers conducted six different mini-studies involving hundreds of participants.
  • The Surveys: People answered questions about how much they notice their body (attention) and how good they *think* they are at sensing things like hunger or thirst (accuracy).
  • The Physical Test: Some participants did a "heartbeat counting task." This is like a game where you try to count your heartbeats just by feeling them, without touching your pulse, to see if your "inner sense" matches reality.

What They Found

The big discovery? Noticing your body and being right about it are totally separate!
Think of it like a clock on the wall:
  • Attention is how often you look at the clock.
  • Accuracy is whether the clock is actually showing the right time.
The study found you can be someone who stares at the "body clock" all day but still can’t tell exactly what time it is. They also found that their new survey (the IAS) was a great tool for measuring how accurate people believe they are.

What This Might Mean

This suggests that our internal "wiring" is very diverse. Just as some people have a "blind" mind’s eye (aphantasia), some people might have a "quiet" inner body sense. However, because much of this was done through online surveys, we have to be careful—people aren't always perfect at judging their own abilities!

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found that people who felt they were better at sensing their internal body signals often had lower scores for depression. This suggests that being "in tune" with your body might be linked to how you feel emotionally!
This summary was generated by AI and may contain errors. Always refer to the original paper for accuracy.