The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a perceptual illusion whereby a model hand is perceived
as part of one’s own body. This illusion has been extensively studied, but little is known
about the temporal evolution of this perceptual phenomenon, i.e., how long it takes until
participants start to experience ownership over the model hand. In the present study,
we investigated a version of the rubber hand experiment based on finger movements
and measured the average onset time in active and passive movement conditions.
This comparison enabled us to further explore the possible role of intentions and
motor control processes that are only present in the active movement condition. The
results from a large group of healthy participants (n D 117) showed that the illusion of
ownership took approximately 23 s to emerge (active: 22.8; passive: 23.2). The 90th
percentile occurs in both conditions within approximately 50 s (active: 50; passive:
50.6); therefore, most participants experience the illusion within the first minute. We
found indirect evidence of a facilitatory effect of active movements compared to passive
movements, and we discuss these results in the context of our current understanding
of the processes underlying the moving RHI