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Fractal Structure and Complexity Matching in Naturalistic Human Behavior

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2018, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Psychology.
Agent-environment systems are composed of processes acting on different time scales and thus system behavior typically exhibits multiscale dynamics. Systems that exhibit multiscale dynamics tend to be well approximated by scale-free distributions, meaning that changes in behavior or behavioral fluctuations maintain a certain level of statistical regularity across temporal scales. This pattern of statistical regularity or self- similarity is referred to as fractal behavior. Although previous research has provided cursory support for the hypotheses that (i) human behavior is characterized by fractal, multi-scaled dynamics, and (ii) that these dynamics are co-related to the structural complexity of environmental and/or task activities (e.g., Bassingthwaighte et al., 1994; Rigoli et al., 2015; Van Orden et al., 2011), nearly all of this previous work has focused on only a small subset of simple or contrived behaviors within the context of controlled and supervised laboratory tasks. The aim of the current study was to investigate the degree to which the fractal structure of human behavior vary as a function of different naturalistic environmental and task structures, as well as the degree to which pairs exhibit complexity matching as a function of these task structures. To achieve this aim, 78 undergraduate students (26 individuals and 26 pairs) participated in a 1.5-hour experiment involving six different self-paced (unsupervised), semi-structured activities around the University of Cincinnati (UC) campus. This methodology thereby grounded the investigation within the context of everyday student activity, while minimizing strict or unnatural behavioral constraints or laboratory manipulations. Wearable technology (Empatica E4 bio-sensing wristbands and iPhones) was used to record acceleration at the wrist and waist. Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) was employed to index the fractal dynamics of the participants’ behavioral signals as a function of the different activities performed. The degree to which the fractal dynamics of pairs were coupled—i.e., the degree of complexity matching (Marmelat & Delignie`res, 2012) observed—was also evaluated as a function of task activity. Pseudo-pairs analysis was employed to confirm the validity of the complexity matching results. The results revealed significant differences in the fractal structure of behavior as a function of task activity, with the two walking activities exhibiting significantly less fractal structure overall than the free-form, coffee shop, and library activities. The overall fractal structure and the standard deviation of the fractal structure revealed further significant differences between the free-form, coffee shop and library activities. In addition, the fractal structure of pairs did exhibit significant complexity matching for all six activities, with the magnitude of complexity matching being greater for the walking, coffee shop, and library activities than for the free-form activities. Collectively, the results confirm that the fractal dynamics of naturalistic human behavior are structured by the complexities of the environment and task goal. They also provide new insights into how the behavior of co- acting pairs becomes globally coordinated during everyday activity.
Tamara Lorenz, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Tehran Davis, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Rachel Kallen, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Richardson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Paula Silva, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
60 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rigoli, L. M. (2018). Fractal Structure and Complexity Matching in Naturalistic Human Behavior [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1523634803453736

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rigoli, Lillian. Fractal Structure and Complexity Matching in Naturalistic Human Behavior. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1523634803453736.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rigoli, Lillian. "Fractal Structure and Complexity Matching in Naturalistic Human Behavior." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1523634803453736

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)