title: The role of shared visual information for joint action coordination.
abstract: Previous research has identified a number of coordination processes that enable people to perform joint actions. But what determines which coordination processes joint action partners rely on in a given situation? The present study tested whether varying the shared visual information available to co-actors can trigger a shift in coordination processes. Pairs of participants performed a movement task that required them to synchronously arrive at a target from separate starting locations. When participants in a pair received only auditory feedback about the time their partner reached the target they held their movement duration constant to facilitate coordination. When they received additional visual information about each other's movements they switched to a fundamentally different coordination process, exaggerating the curvature of their movements to communicate their arrival time. These findings indicate that the availability of shared perceptual information is a major factor in determining how individuals coordinate their actions to obtain joint outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, 1051 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: vesperc@ceu.edu.
authors.forename: Cordula
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vesper
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, 1051 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Institut d'Etudes Cognitives, Inserm, U960, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Safra
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, 1051 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sebanz
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, 1051 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Knoblich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Interpersonal coordination; Joint action; Nonverbal communication; Predictability; Signaling