Interpersonal synergies

Abstract

We present the perspective that interpersonal movement coordination results from establishing interpersonal synergies. Interpersonal synergies are higher-order control systems formed by coupling movement system degrees of freedom of two (or more) actors. Characteristic features of synergies identified in studies of intrapersonal coordination - dimensional compression and reciprocal compensation - are revealed in studies of interpersonal coordination that applied the uncontrolled manifold approach and principal component analysis to interpersonal movement tasks. Broader implications of the interpersonal synergy approach for movement science include an expanded notion of mechanism and an emphasis on interaction-dominant dynamics.

Keywords: cross-recurrence quantification analysis; interpersonal coordination; joint action; principal component analysis; synergy.

Figure 1

Schematic depiction of a synergy.

Figure 2

(A) Hypothetical mechanism for appearance of interpersonal coordination. Each actor assembles a synergy that achieves the movement pattern required by the actor's role in the task. Because actors share similar representations of the task they are able to execute similar but independent movement patterns without demonstrating the reciprocal compensation that characterizes synergies. (B) Hypothetical mechanism for interpersonal coordination that involves the formation of a joint or interpersonal synergy, composed of elements of each actor's movement system.

Figure 3

(A) Depiction of the individual- (left) and interpersonal- (right) task conditions from Ramenzoni (2008). (B) Time series of the data projected onto the intrapersonal principle components from the individual (left) and interpersonal-task (right) conditions. The striking coordination in the interpersonal-task condition was confirmed by cross-recurrence quantification analysis, which revealed a greater degree and higher stability of coupling in that condition.