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Is Joint Action Synergistic? A Study of the Stabilization of Interpersonal Hand Coordination

Romero, Veronica C
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406821563

Abstract Details

2014, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Psychology.
Although performing social motor activities is a fundamental property of ongoing human behavior (e.g. Bekkering et al., 2009; Richardson, Marsh, & Schmidt, 2010; Riley, Richardson, Shockley, & Ramenzoni, 2011) the scientific understanding of how co-actors perform these coordinated motor acts remains lacking. Historically, motor control research has been dominated by the hypothesis that the central nervous system is responsible for controlling the trajectories and contributions of each neuromuscular and skeletal component necessary to perform a motor task (e.g. Keele, 1968; Lashley, 1951; Prinz, 1997). However, contemporary theorists have argued that the human perceptual-motor system is tightly coupled to the physical and informational dynamics of a task environment and that these dynamics operate to constrain the high-dimensional order of the human movement system into low-dimensional, task-specific synergies (e.g. Fonseca & Turvey, 2009; Kelso, 2009; Riley et al., 2011). The term synergy is used to refer to a functional grouping of structural elements (neurons, muscles, limbs, individuals, etc.) that are temporarily constrained to act as a single coordinated unit. The objective of this thesis was to examine whether synergistic processes constrain and organize the behavior of co-acting individuals performing a discrete joint-action task. Twelve pairs of participants sat next to each other and each used one arm to complete a bimanual pointer-to-target task. Using the uncontrolled manifold (UCM), the structure of joint-angle variance (compensated vs. uncompensated) was examined to determine whether there was synergistic organization of the degrees of freedom employed at the interpersonal (across participants) or intrapersonal (within participants) levels. The results revealed that task performance improved over the course of the study and that the motor actions performed by co-actors were synergistically organized at both the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels. More importantly, the interpersonal synergy was found to be stronger than the intrapersonal (right actor/arm; left actor/arm) synergies, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the action dynamics of co-acting individuals can become temporarily organized to form a single synergistic two-person system.
Michael Richardson, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Rachel Kallen, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Riley, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
60 p.
Experiments
Joint action; Motor control; Synergy; Interpersonal

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Romero, V. C. (2014). Is Joint Action Synergistic? A Study of the Stabilization of Interpersonal Hand Coordination [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406821563

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Romero, Veronica. Is Joint Action Synergistic? A Study of the Stabilization of Interpersonal Hand Coordination. 2014. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406821563.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Romero, Veronica. "Is Joint Action Synergistic? A Study of the Stabilization of Interpersonal Hand Coordination." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406821563

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1406821563
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