Coordination Matters : Interpersonal Synchrony Influences Collaborative Problem-Solving

The authors thank Martha von Werthern and Caitlin Taylor for their assistance with data collection, Cathy Macpherson for her assistance with the preparation of the manuscript, and Mike Richardson, Alex Paxton, and Rick Dale for providing MATLAB code to assist with data analysis. The research was funded by the British Academy (SG131613).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Organization of Production and Economic Development

A formalization of the Coase-Williamson-Cheung theory of the firm is used to examine the trade-off between the firm and the market as institutions for organizing production in a dynamic, general equilibrium model with increasing returns to labor specialization. The model considers the interaction of internal and external transaction costs and the gains to labor specialization in determining important aspects of the organization of production including the degree of labor specialization, the size and specialization of firms and the pattern of interfirm trade. Endogenous growth is driven by capital accumulation and the division of labor. The evolution of economic organization is characterized by increases in labor specialization, interfirm trade, firm specialization (vertical disintegration) and firm employment.development; endogenous growth; labor specialization; dynamic model; institutions; division of labor; growth; transactions costs; coordination; coordination costs; contract enforcement; organization; neoinstitutionalism; traditional economy; interpersonal exchange; theory of the firm; interpersonal exchange

Understanding self and other

Interpersonal understanding is rooted in social engagement. The question is: How? What features of intersubjective coordination are essential for the growth of concepts about the mind, and how does development proceed on this basis? Carpendale & Lewis (C&L) offer many telling insights, but their account begs questions about the earliest forms of self-other linkage and differentiation, especially as mediated by processes of identification

The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs and the Growth of Government

The paper develops a dynamic, general equilibrium model of specialization-driven growth in which the private cost of coordinating among specialists is a function of public expenditure on physical and institutional infrastructure. Growth is characterized by endogenous increases in labor specialization, the capital-labor ratio, coordination costs, market size, and the interdependence of economic agents. In addition, model provides an explanation for a frequently ignored stylized fact of economic growth, the secular rise of government's share of output, in terms of the economic role of the government.development; endogenous growth; labor specialization; dynamic model; institutions; division of labor; growth; transactions costs; coordination; coordination costs; contract enforcement; organization; neoinstitutionalism; traditional economy; interpersonal exchange; government; transaction sector; public investment; public capital

Dynamic similarity promotes interpersonal coordination in joint-action

Human movement has been studied for decades and dynamic laws of motion that are common to all humans have been derived. Yet, every individual moves differently from everyone else (faster/slower, harder/smoother etc). We propose here an index of such variability, namely an individual motor signature (IMS) able to capture the subtle differences in the way each of us moves. We show that the IMS of a person is time-invariant and that it significantly differs from those of other individuals. This allows us to quantify the dynamic similarity, a measure of rapport between dynamics of different individuals' movements, and demonstrate that it facilitates coordination during interaction. We use our measure to confirm a key prediction of the theory of similarity that coordination between two individuals performing a joint-action task is higher if their motions share similar dynamic features. Furthermore, we use a virtual avatar driven by an interactive cognitive architecture based on feedback control theory to explore the effects of different kinematic features of the avatar motion on the coordination with human players

Observing joint action : coordination creates commitment

Previous research has shown that interpersonal coordination enhances pro-social attitudes and behavior. Here, we extend this research by investigating whether the degree of coordination observed in a joint action enhances the perception of individuals' commitment to the joint action. In four experiments, participants viewed videos of joint actions. In the low coordination condition, two agents made independent individual contributions to a joint action. In the high coordination condition, the individual contributions were tightly linked. Participants judged whether and for how long the observed agents would resist a tempting outside option and remain engaged in the joint action. The results showed that participants were more likely to expect agents to resist outside options when observing joint actions with a high degree of coordination. This indicates that observing interpersonal coordination is sufficient to enhance the perception of commitment to joint action

Field location and player roles as constraints on emergent 1-vs-1 interpersonal patterns of play in football

This study examined effects of player roles on interpersonal patterns of coordination that sustain decision-making in 1-vs-1 sub-phases of football in different field locations near the goal (left-, middle- and right zone). Participants were fifteen U-16 yrs players from a local competitive amateur team. To measure interpersonal patterns of coordination in the 1-vs-1 dyads we recorded: (i) the relative distance value between each attacker and defender to the centre of the goal, and (ii), the relative angle between the centre of the goal, each defender and attacker. Results revealed how variations in field locations near the goal (left-, middle- and right-zones) constrained the relative distance and relative angle values that emerged between them and the goal. It reveals that relative position of the goal is a key informational variable that sustained participants’ behaviours for dribbling and shooting. Higher values of relative distance and angle were observed in the middle zone, compared to other zones. Players’ roles also constitute a constraint on the interpersonal coordination for dribbling and shooting. Additionally, it seems that players’ foot preference constrains the dynamics of interpersonal patterns of coordination between participants, especially in left and right zones. The findings suggest that to increase participants’ opportunities for action, coaches should account with field positions, players’ roles and preference foot

Autistic traits affect interpersonal motor coordination by modulating strategic use of role-based behavior

Background: Despite the fact that deficits in social communication and interaction are at the core of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC), no study has yet tested individuals on a continuum from neurotypical development to autism in an on-line, cooperative, joint action task. In our study, we aimed to assess whether the degree of autistic traits affects participants' ability to modulate their motor behavior while interacting in a Joint Grasping task and according to their given role. Methods: Sixteen pairs of adult participants played a cooperative social interactive game in which they had to synchronize their reach-to-grasp movements. Pairs were comprised of one ASC and one neurotypical with no cognitive disability. In alternate experimental blocks, one participant knew what action to perform (instructed role) while the other had to infer it from his/her partner’s action (adaptive role). When in the adaptive condition, participants were told to respond with an action that was either opposite or similar to their partner. Participants also played a non-social control game in which they had to synchronize with a non-biological stimulus. Results: In the social interactive task, higher degree of autistic trait s predicted less ability to mod ulate joint action according to one’s interactive role. In the non-social task, autistic traits did not predict differences in movement preparation and planning, thus ruling out the possibility that social interact ive task results were due to basic motor or executive function difficulties. Furthermore, when participants played the non-social game, the higher their autistic traits, the more they were interfered by the non-biological stimulus. Conclusions: Our study shows for the first time that high autistic traits predict a stereotypical interaction style when individuals are required to modulate their movements in order to coordinate with their partner according to their role in a joint action task. Specifically, the infrequent emergence of role-based motor behavior modulation during on-line motor cooperation in participants with high autistic traits sheds light on the numerous difficulties ASC have in nonverbal social interaction

Joint action in a cooperative precision task: Nested processes of intrapersonal and interpersonal coordination

The authors determined the effects of changes in task demands on interpersonal and intrapersonal coordination. Participants performed a joint task in which one participant held a stick to which a circle was attached at the top (holding role), while the other held a pointer through the circle without touching its borders (pointing role). Experiment 1 investigated whether interpersonal and intrapersonal coordination varied depending on task difficulty. Results showed that interpersonal and intrapersonal coordination increased in degree and stability with increments in task difficulty. Experiment 2 explored the effects of individual constraints by increasing the balance demands of the task (one or both members of the pair stood in a less stable tandem stance). Results showed that interpersonal coordination increased in degree and stability as joint task demands increased and that coupling strength varied depending on joint and individual task constraints. In all, results suggest that interpersonal and intrapersonal coordination are affected by the nature of the task performed and the constraints it places on joint and individual performance