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Cooperation in sound and motion: Complexity matching in collaborative interaction
Drew H Abney1, Alexandra Paxton2, Rick Dale3
1Department of Psychology, University of Georgia.
Complexity matching coordinates nested behaviors across individuals. Partners building higher towers demonstrated this coordination through synchronized sound and movement patterns.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Human Coordination
- Behavioral Dynamics
Background:
- Complex cooperative behaviors require coordinated processes across multiple timescales.
- Coordination between individuals involves aligning nested layers of behavior.
- Complexity matching describes the synchronization of these behavioral layers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that complexity matching extends across individuals during joint tasks.
- To investigate the role of complexity matching in successful human cooperation.
- To explore the relationship between multiscale coordination and task outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Assessed coordination in a joint tower-building task.
- Measured sound and movement patterns produced by cooperating partners.
- Quantified complexity matching in cross-timescale relations of partner behaviors.
Main Results:
- Partners achieved higher tower constructions when their sound patterns exhibited greater similarity in cross-timescale relations.
- Complexity matching positively correlated with successful joint task performance.
- Evidence supports the extension of complexity matching across individuals in cooperative settings.
Conclusions:
- Complexity matching is a key mechanism for coordinating layered behaviors in human cooperation.
- This coordination supports flexible and complementary dynamics essential for complex joint actions.
- Findings open new avenues for research into multiscale coordination and communication.
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