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Top-down (Prior Knowledge) and Bottom-up (Perceptual Modality) Influences on Spontaneous Interpersonal
Christina L Gipson1, Jamie C Gorman1, Eric E Hessler2
1Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences
|April 2, 2016
Summary
Spontaneous interpersonal synchronization is influenced by prior knowledge of a partner's sensory abilities. This top-down influence impacts synchronization differently based on whether partners share or differ in their perceptual modalities.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Social Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Interpersonal coordination is a fundamental human activity, often occurring unintentionally through synchronization.
- Spontaneous synchronization is influenced by both internal (top-down) and external (bottom-up) factors.
- Existing theories, such as joint-action/shared cognition and ecological-interactive theories, offer different perspectives on these influences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of top-down influences (prior knowledge of partner's perceptual modality) and bottom-up factors (perceptual modality combination) on spontaneous interpersonal synchronization.
- To examine how these factors interact and are explained by different theoretical frameworks.
Main Methods:
- An empirical study involving twelve dyads performing a finger oscillation task.
- Participants attended to their partner's movements via visual, auditory, or combined visual-auditory modalities.
- Half of the participants received prior knowledge of their partner's perceptual capabilities.
Main Results:
- The impact of top-down influence on synchronization varied with the perceptual modality combination.
- When partners used the same perceptual modalities, top-down influence decreased synchronization.
- When partners used different perceptual modalities, top-down influence increased synchronization.
- The persistence of behavioral changes due to perceptual information ('social memory') was enhanced by top-down influence.
Conclusions:
- Top-down influences significantly modulate spontaneous interpersonal synchronization, with effects contingent on perceptual modality alignment.
- Understanding these interactions is crucial for developing effective human-human and human-machine coordination strategies.
- The findings provide empirical support for integrating cognitive and ecological perspectives on interpersonal synchronization.
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