Modality-specific attractor dynamics in dyadic entrainment

Abstract

Rhythmic joint coordination is ubiquitous in daily-life human activities. In order to coordinate their actions towards shared goals, individuals need to co-regulate their timing and move together at the collective level of behavior. Remarkably, basic forms of coordinated behavior tend to emerge spontaneously as long as two individuals are exposed to each other’s rhythmic movements. The present study investigated the dynamics of spontaneous dyadic entrainment, and more specifically how they depend on the sensory modalities mediating informational coupling. By means of a novel interactive paradigm, we showed that dyadic entrainment systematically takes place during a minimalistic rhythmic task despite explicit instructions to ignore the partner. Crucially, the interaction was organized by clear dynamics in a modality-dependent fashion. Our results showed highly consistent coordination patterns in visually-mediated entrainment, whereas we observed more chaotic and more variable profiles in the auditorily-mediated counterpart. The proposed experimental paradigm yields empirical evidence for the overwhelming tendency of dyads to behave as coupled rhythmic units. In the context of our experimental design, it showed that coordination dynamics differ according to availability and nature of perceptual information. Interventions aimed at rehabilitating, teaching or training sensorimotor functions can be ultimately informed and optimized by such fundamental knowledge.

Liking as a balance between synchronization, complexity and novelty

“…For example, when individuals interacted with others who mimicked their body language or when the participants are explicitly instructed to coordinate their movements, synchronization of movements was shown to increase liking 6,8,9 , affiliation 10 , rapport 11 , trust 5,12 and collaboration 13 . Synchronization is so fundamental in humans' interactions that even when people are instructed to ignore their partner, they get in sync anyway 14 . These results are related to a broader concept of synchronization that was suggested as a mechanism for social understanding 15,16 .…”

With No Attention Specifically Directed to It, Rhythmic Sound Does Not Automatically Facilitate Visual Task Performance

“…Also attractor dynamics can possibly provide part of an explanation. Rosso et al (2021) designed an experiment were a pair of participants were instructed to tap along a metronome. Both metronomes gradually went out of phase from each other.…”

Embodied perspective-taking enhances interpersonal synchronization: A body-swap study

“… 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 As soon as two individuals exchange information via one or multiple sensory channels, 5 such phenomenon may occur spontaneously and even against the intention to ignore the other. 6 Visually mediated interactions, in particular, are governed by attractor dynamics 7 , 8 which stabilize dyadic behavior in recurrent and stable coordinative patterns, and are characterized by a dynamic balance between the pursuit of individual behavioral trajectories ( competition process) and the attraction into coupled behavior ( cooperation process). 6 , 9 …”

“… 6 Visually mediated interactions, in particular, are governed by attractor dynamics 7 , 8 which stabilize dyadic behavior in recurrent and stable coordinative patterns, and are characterized by a dynamic balance between the pursuit of individual behavioral trajectories ( competition process) and the attraction into coupled behavior ( cooperation process). 6 , 9 …”

“… 35 With these principles in mind, let us take the human hand as paradigmatic effector to investigate embodiment, 21 and joint finger-tapping as paradigmatic task to investigate interpersonal synchronization. 6 , 36 , 37 Provided the hand of a partner can be integrated in one’s own body schema when visually perceived in 1 st person during joint finger-tapping, 38 we expected temporal mismatches to carry more weight as compared to the ecological 2 nd person perspective, which would lead the partners to engage in a stronger error-correction response via dyadic entrainment. This is because, in such scenario, the other’s hand is perceived as an embodied effector and therefore represented by the motor system in terms of motor potentiality for actions.…”