When we interact with others, we coordinate our thoughts, intentions and behavior through back-and-forth exchange: from exchanging casual smiles on the U-bahn to deep philosophical discussions about the state of the world. But why are we compelled to do things together? The answer, is almost certainly not simply only to achieve things we can do together, as there is a great deal we can do alone. The answer perhaps lies in how we do things together. In the examples of team sports, dance or group music making, we see richer ways in which individuals temporally coordinate and adapt to one another over longer periods of time. One individual might slow down their actions. Their partners in turn will adapt their behaviour to a greater or lesser extent.

Keywords: group coordination, self-in-other ratio, teams, networks, coupling

Background:

The focus of this project is the mutual exchanges that underlie non-verbal interactions between co-actors: these might be groups of individuals walking together or tapping together in time with a beat. Our published and ongoing studies test musicians as well as healthy and autistic individuals, developing new experimental tasks to study the way in which information is exchanged between groups of interacting agents. This experimental work package is complimented by and informs the devising of new computational models to better describe the nature of the exchange. Finally, the project aims to revise theoretical and philosophical accounts of the alignment of bodies and minds.

At this stage we are:
  • Extending our research in Virtual Reality environments
  • Online studies of Group Coordination
Interested? Find out more:
  • Annett Schirmer, Merle Fairhurst, Stefanie Hoehl, Being ‘in sync’—is interactional synchrony the key to understanding the social brain?, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Volume 16, Issue 1-2, January – February 2021, Pages 1–4
    https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa148
  • New paper in press of group walking in an ecological setting at the Tate Museum, London (Scientific Reports);
  • New book chapter on Creative Coordination (forthcoming)
Team
Merle Fairhurst
Merle Fairhurst

Project Lead

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, Domna Banakou, Mel Slater, Peter Keller

Collaborators