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Harmony from Chaos? Investigations in Aperiodic Visual-Motor and Interpersonal Coordination

Washburn, Auriel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397733911

Abstract Details

2014, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Psychology.
Many of our daily behaviors provide evidence that people are capable of coordinating in an effortless manner, even when faced with highly variable, often unpredictable behavioral events. While a substantial amount of research on joint-action has focused on the coordination that occurs between simple stereotyped or periodic movements, a larger proportion of everyday social and interpersonal interaction requires that individuals coordinate complex, aperiodic actions. In fact, many of the actions performed by individuals in an interactive context likely exhibit characteristics synonymous with chaos (i.e., are unpredictable yet deterministic). Although counterintuitive, recent research in physics and human movement science indicates that small temporal feedback delays may actually enhance an individual's ability to synchronize with chaotic environmental events. The current study was designed to determine whether a similar phenomenon might be at work in the interpersonal coordination of aperiodic behaviors and, if so, to examine the underlying anticipatory processes. In order to evaluate the effect of small perceptual feedback delays on aperiodic interpersonal coordination, three experiments were conducted. Since the phenomenon of anticipatory synchronization had only previously been observed for a single actor coordinating with a computer-generated chaotic stimulus, these experiments were performed in a progressive manner, transitioning from an actor-environment context to an interpersonal, bi-directionally coupled context involving two co-actors. In each experiment, a participant was asked to coordinate their arm movements with another continuous movement sequence displayed to them as a moving dot on a large HD monitor. Perceptual feedback was available to participants via the display of their own movements as a different colored dot. This dot either reflected the behavioral outcomes of a participant’s actions in real time, or at one of three short temporal delays (200 ms, 400 ms, 600 ms). Resulting coordination was measured using four different analyses. The previously established local coordination analyses of maximum cross-correlation and instantaneous relative phase were used to evaluate the occurrence of anticipatory synchronization. Two new analyses of complexity matching, or more global, long-term behavioral similarity, were also conducted in order to gain additional information about the coordinative dynamics between contemporaneous behaviors. Consistent with previous findings, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that anticipatory synchronization of aperiodic behaviors can be achieved in a visual context, if the coordinating actor experiences a small perceptual feedback delay (200-400 ms). Experiment 3 extends these findings by demonstrating that the same anticipatory phenomenon can occur in an interpersonal context involving two bi-directionally coupled co-actors, again so long as the coordinating actor experiences a small perceptual feedback delay. Furthermore, evidence of complexity matching between observed and produced behavioral movements indicated that the anticipatory synchronization occurring in the current study was likely supported by the coordinative processes of strong anticipation. These findings are some of the first to extend the understanding of visual and interpersonal coordination beyond the study of simple, periodic behaviors. As such, the present work provides new insights about the underlying processes that might provide support for flexible, robust visual and interpersonal coordination and suggests new avenues for investigating the dynamics of social interaction.
Michael Richardson, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Rachel Kallen, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kevin Shockley, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
122 p.
Psychology
Anticipatory Synchronization; Interpersonal Coordination; Visual-Motor Coordination; Aperiodic Movement; Chaos; Dynamical Systems

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Washburn, A. (2014). Harmony from Chaos? Investigations in Aperiodic Visual-Motor and Interpersonal Coordination [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397733911

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Washburn, Auriel. Harmony from Chaos? Investigations in Aperiodic Visual-Motor and Interpersonal Coordination. 2014. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397733911.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Washburn, Auriel. "Harmony from Chaos? Investigations in Aperiodic Visual-Motor and Interpersonal Coordination." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397733911

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1397733911
298
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.