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Deviations from mirroring in interpersonal multifrequency coordination when visual information is occluded

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Abstract

In activities such as dancing and sports, people synchronize behaviors in many different ways. Synchronization between people has traditionally been characterized as either perfect mirroring (1:1 in-phase synchronization, spontaneous synchrony, and mimicry) or reflectional mirroring (1:1 antiphase synchronization), but most activities require partners to synchronize more complicated patterns. We asked visually coupled dyads to coordinate finger movements to perform multifrequency ratios (1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1). Because these patterns are coordinated across and not just within individual physiological and motor systems, we based our predictions on frequency-locking dynamics, which is a general coordination principle that is not limited to physiological explanations. Twenty dyads performed five multifrequency ratios under three levels of visual coupling, with half using a subcritical visual information update rate. The dynamical principle was supported, such that multifrequency performance tends to abide by the strictures of frequency locking. However, these constraints are relaxed if the visual information rate is beyond the critical information update rate. An analysis of turning points in the oscillatory finger movements suggested that dyads did not rely on this visual information to stabilize coordination. How the laboratory findings align with naturalistic observations of multifrequency performance in actual sports teams (Double Dutch) is discussed. Frequency-locking accounts not only for the human propensity for perfect mirroring but also for variations in performance when dyads deviate from mirroring.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number BCS 1257112 (to J. Gorman) and BCS 1255922 (to P. Amazeen). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors are grateful to Aaron Likens and Cameron Gibbons for their contributions to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 654 Cherry St. NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Jamie C. Gorman & Christina L. Gipson

  2. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Polemnia G. Amazeen

  3. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

    Michael J. Crites

Authors
  1. Jamie C. Gorman
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  2. Polemnia G. Amazeen
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  3. Michael J. Crites
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  4. Christina L. Gipson
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Correspondence to Jamie C. Gorman.

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Gorman, J.C., Amazeen, P.G., Crites, M.J. et al. Deviations from mirroring in interpersonal multifrequency coordination when visual information is occluded. Exp Brain Res 235, 1209–1221 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4888-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4888-5

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