Modulation of individual auditory-motor coordination dynamics through interpersonal visual coupling

Abstract

The current study investigated whether visual coupling between two people producing dance-related movements (requiring whole-body auditory-motor coordination) results in interpersonal entrainment and modulates individual auditory-motor coordination dynamics. Paired participants performed two kinds of coordination tasks – either knee flexion or extension repeatedly with metronome beats (Flexion-on-the-beat and Extension-on-the-beat conditions) while standing face-to-face or back-to-back to manipulate visual interaction. The results indicated that the relative phases between paired participants’ movements were closer to 0° and less variable when participants could see each other. In addition, visibility of the partner reduced individual differences in the dynamics of auditory-motor coordination by modulating coordination variability and the frequency of phase transitions from Extension-on-the-beat to Flexion-on-the-beat. Together, these results indicate that visual coupling takes place when paired participants can see each other and leads to interpersonal entrainment during rhythmic auditory-motor coordination, which compensates for individual differences via behavioural assimilation and thus enables individuals to achieve unified and cohesive performances.

Modality-specific attractor dynamics in dyadic entrainment

“…The exposure to rhythmic behaviors attracts individuals to fall in sync with one another, and the phenomenon can be observed at the level of dyads, small-groups and large crowds 1 . For instance, when two people walk or dance together, they show a natural tendency to synchronize their steps 2 – 4 . When an audience applauds at the end of the concert, the auditory scene goes through intermittent periods of synchronized clapping 5 .…”

Accent Stabilizes 1:2 Sensorimotor Synchronization of Rhythmic Knee Flexion-Extension Movement in Upright Stance

“…(2013) succeeded in revealing the difference in skills between novice and skilled dancers applying this rhythmic knee flexion-extension movement in upright stance. Furthermore, the same rhythmic knee flexion-extension movement in upright stance has also been applied in other studies, revealing that visual information affects the frequency of phase transition of SMS (Miyata et al., 2017, 2018).…”

“…We applied a dynamical systems approach in the current study because the SMS of rhythmic knee flexion-extension movement in upright stance has been investigated by applying a dynamical systems approach (e.g., Miura et al., 2011, 2013; Miyata and Kudo, 2014; Miyata et al., 2017, 2018). In a dynamical systems approach, stability of synchronization is often investigated by comparing the variance of phase angle at the beat onset (Miura et al., 2011).…”

Dyadic Entrainment. An Overwhelming and Modality-Dependent Phenomenon.

“…The essential minimal requirement for human interactions to occur is that individuals mutually exchange information through one or more sensory channels. Although experimental interactive scenarios necessarily imply a determined sensory modality [15][16][17] and possibly cross-modal interactions 18 , the role of competing sensory modalities remains under-looked in the literature. To our knowledge, whether and how coordination dynamics depend on the nature of available perceptual information is yet to be investigated.…”