Interpersonal Synergies

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

Innovative Virtual Role Play Simulations for Managing Substance Use Conversations: Pilot Study Results and Relevance During and After COVID-19

Background: Substance use places a substantial burden on our communities, both economically and socially. In light of COVID-19, it is predicted that as many as 75,000 more people will die from alcohol and other substance use and suicide as a result of isolation, new mental health concerns, and various other stressors related to the pandemic. Public awareness campaigns that aim to destigmatize substance use and help individuals have meaningful conversations with friends, coworkers, or family members to address substance use concerns are a timely and cost-effective means of augmenting existing behavioral health efforts related to substance use. These types of interventions can supplement the work being done by existing public health initiatives. Objective: This pilot study examines the impact of the One Degree: Shift the Influence role play simulation, designed to teach family, friends, and coworkers to effectively manage problem-solving conversations with individuals that they are concerned about regarding substance use. Methods: Participants recruited for this mixed methods study completed a presurvey, the simulation, and a postsurvey, and were sent a 6-week follow-up survey. The simulation involves practicing a role play conversation with a virtual human coded with emotions, a memory, and a personality. A virtual coach provides feedback in using evidence-based communication strategies such as motivational interviewing. Results: A matched sample analysis of variance revealed significant increases at follow-up in composite attitudinal constructs of preparedness (P Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that conversation-based simulations like One Degree: Shift the Influence that use role play practice can teach individuals to use evidence-based communication strategies and can cost-effectively reach geographically dispersed populations to support public health initiatives for primary prevention

Financing Direct Democracy: Revisiting the Research on Campaign Spending and Citizen Initiatives

The conventional view in the direct democracy literature is that spending against a measure is more effective than spending in favor of a measure, but the empirical results underlying this conclusion have been questioned by recent research. We argue that the conventional finding is driven by the endogenous nature of campaign spending: initiative proponents spend more when their ballot measure is likely to fail. We address this endogeneity by using an instrumental variables approach to analyze a comprehensive dataset of ballot propositions in California from 1976 to 2004. We find that both support and opposition spending on citizen initiatives have strong, statistically significant, and countervailing effects. We confirm this finding by looking at time series data from early polling on a subset of these measures. Both analyses show that spending in favor of citizen initiatives substantially increases their chances of passage, just as opposition spending decreases this likelihood

Effects of encoding and retrieval on bimanual rhythmic coordination

In 4 experiments, bimanual 1:1 rhythmic coordination was performed at the same time as encoding and/or retrieval and with manipulanda that produced equal or different preferred left and right frequencies. Effects of divided attention (DA) on coordination were indexed by changes in mean relative phase and its variability compared to coordination without memory activity. Effects of DA on memory were indexed by deficits in recall relative to memory activity (encoding or retrieving) without coordination. Experiments 1 and 2 found shifts in the equilibrium value of relative phase for DA at encoding to-be-remembered words and DA at retrieving those words, respectively, and a recall deficit that was larger for DA at encoding. Experiment 3 found shifts in coordination equilibria and recall deficits for DA during a semantic memory task, the retrieving of category members. Experiment 4 examined the effect of DA at timing relations of 2:1 and 3:1 between the coupled frequency and the encoding or retrieval pace on the assumption that DA might interact with “resonance constraints.” Relative phase was affected most by DA at retrieval in the less-stable 3:1 mode. In all experiments, DA effects on relative phase were restricted to the detuned condition of unequal left and right preferred frequencies and always included increases in variability as measured by recurrence quantification techniques. Results were discussed in terms of conventional resource limitation models of DA and alternative models based in dynamical systems theory.

Rhythmic recurrency in dance to music with ambiguous meter

Head movements of groups of participants moving to music allowing for both duple and triple subdivisions were analysed using Recurrence Quantification Analysis. As expected the maximum recurrence rate varied between participant, position in the music, and between groups. The lags of maximum recurrence were only partly corresponding to the metrical levels of the music and syncopated sections confused participants so that they moved to 4/4 rather than 6/8