Skip to main content
Log in

Strategic communication and behavioral coupling in asymmetric joint action

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

How is coordination achieved in asymmetric joint actions where co-actors have unequal access to task information? Pairs of participants performed a non-verbal tapping task with the goal of synchronizing taps to different targets. We tested whether ‘Leaders’ knowing the target locations would support ‘Followers’ without this information. Experiment 1 showed that Leaders tapped with higher amplitude that also scaled with specific target distance, thereby emphasizing differences between correct targets and possible alternatives. This strategic communication only occurred when Leaders’ movements were fully visible, but not when they were partially occluded. Full visual information between co-actors also resulted in higher and more stable behavioral coordination than partial vision. Experiment 2 showed that Leaders’ amplitude adaptation facilitated target prediction by independent Observers. We conclude that fully understanding joint action coordination requires both representational (i.e., strategic adaptation) and dynamical systems (i.e., behavioral coupling) accounts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Three of the six sequences contained a repeating pattern of length 16; this had no effect on any of the measured variables and was therefore not included as a factor in the statistical analyses.

References

  • Becchio C, Sartori L, Castiello U (2010) Toward you: the social side of actions. Curr Direct Psychol Sci 19:183–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan SE, Hanna JE (2009) Partner-specific adaptation in dialog. Top Cognit Sci 1:274–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan SE, Chen X, Dickinson CA, Neider MB, Zelinsky GJ (2008) Coordinating cognition: the costs and benefits of shared gaze during collaborative search. Cognition 106:1465–1477

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark HH (1996) Using language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Coey CA, Varlet M, Richardson MJ (2012) Coordination dynamics in a socially situated nervous system. Front Hum Neurosci 6:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bruijn ERA, de Lange FP, von Cramon DY, Ullsperger M (2009) When errors are rewarding. J Neurosci 29:12183–12186

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goebl W, Palmer C (2009) Synchronization of timing and motion among performing musicians. Music Percept 26:427–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graf M, Reitzner B, Corves C, Casile A, Giese M, Prinz W (2007) Predicting point-light actions in real-time. Neuroimage 36:T22–T32

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keller PE (2008) Joint action in music performance. In: Morganti F, Carassa A, Riva G (eds) Enacting intersubjectivity: a cognitive and social perspective on the study of interactions. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 205–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoblich G, Butterfill S, Sebanz N (2011) Psychological research on joint action: theory and data. In: Ross B (ed) The psychology of learning and motivation, vol 54. Academic Press, Burlington, pp 59–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockridge C, Brennan S (2002) Addressees’ needs influence speakers’ early syntactic choices. Psychol Bull Rev 9:550–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loehr J, Kourtis D, Vesper C, Sebanz N, Knoblich G (2013) Monitoring individual and joint action outcomes in duet music performance. J Cognit Neurosci 25:1049–1061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loftus GR, Masson MEJ (1994) Using confidence intervals in within-subject designs. Psychon Bull Rev 1:476–490

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh KL, Richardson MJ, Schmidt RC (2009) Social connection through joint action and interpersonal coordination. Top Cognit Sci 1:320–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pezzulo G, Dindo H (2011) What should I do next? Using shared representations to solve interaction problems. Exp Brain Res 211:613–630

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pezzulo G, Donnarumma F, Dindo H (2013) Human sensorimotor communication: a theory of signaling in online social interaction. PLoS One 8:e79876

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pikovsky A, Rosenblum M, Kurths J (2001) Synchronization: a universal concept in nonlinear science. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson MJ, Marsh KL, Isenhower R, Goodman J, Schmidt RC (2007) Rocking together: dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination. Hum Mov Sci 26:867–891

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson MJ, Harrison SJ, May R, Kallen RW, Schmidt RC (2011) Self-organized complementary coordination: dynamics of an interpersonal collision-avoidance task. BIO Web Conf 1:00075

    Google Scholar 

  • Sacheli L, Tidoni E, Pavone E, Aglioti S, Candidi M (2013) Kinematics fingerprints of leader and follower role-taking during cooperative joint actions. Exp Brain Res 226:473–486

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sartori L, Becchio C, Bara BG, Castiello U (2009) Does the intention to communicate affect action kinematics? Conscious Cognit 18:766–772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt RC, Richardson MJ (2008) Dynamics of interpersonal coordination. In: Fuchs A, Jirsa VK (eds) Coordination: neural, behavioral and social dynamics. Springer, Berlin, pp 281–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt RC, Carello C, Turvey MT (1990) Phase transitions and critical fluctuations in the visual coordination of rhythmic movements between people. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 16:227–247

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt RC, Fitzpatrick P, Caron R, Mergeche J (2011) Understanding social motor coordination. Hum Mov Sci 30:834–845

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sebanz N, Knoblich G, Prinz W (2003) Representing others’ actions: just like one’s own? Cognition 88:B11–B21

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend JT, Ashby FG (1983) Stochastic modelling of elementary psychological processes. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai JCC, Sebanz N, Knoblich G (2011) The GROOP effect: groups mimic group actions. Cognition 118:135–140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vesper C, Butterfill S, Knoblich G, Sebanz N (2010) A minimal architecture for joint action. Neural Netw 23:998–1003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vesper C, van der Wel RPRD, Knoblich G, Sebanz N (2011) Making oneself predictable: reduced temporal variability facilitates joint action coordination. Exp Brain Res 211:517–530

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vesper C, van der Wel RPRD, Knoblich G, Sebanz N (2013) Are you ready to jump? Predictive mechanisms in interpersonal coordination. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 39:48–61

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpert DM, Doya K, Kawato M (2003) A unifying computational framework for motor control and interaction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 358:593–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Veronica Romero for her help with data collection and Günther Knoblich for valuable comments. Michael Richardson’s effort on this project was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01GM105045. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cordula Vesper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vesper, C., Richardson, M.J. Strategic communication and behavioral coupling in asymmetric joint action. Exp Brain Res 232, 2945–2956 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3982-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3982-1

Keywords

Navigation