Joint Simon effect in movement trajectories

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Joint action research often assumes automatic co-representation of a partner's task.
• Previous studies utilized stimulus-response compatibility tasks with discrete button presses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the robustness of co-representation effects by varying response modality.
• To investigate joint action using continuous mouse movements instead of discrete button presses.

Main Methods:

• A mouse-tracking version of the Joint Simon Task was implemented.
• Movement trajectories were analyzed for curvature in individual and joint conditions.
• A Go-NoGo variant of the Simon Task was employed to assess response inhibition.

Main Results:

• Individual Simon Task showed increased movement curvature on incongruent trials.
• This effect diminished in the Go-NoGo Simon Task.
• No overall co-representation effect was found in joint mouse-tracking tasks, unlike button-press studies.
• Significant individual variation in movement strategies was observed.

Conclusions:

• The pervasiveness of automatic co-representation in joint action is questioned.
• Mouse-tracking is a valuable methodology for studying joint action dynamics.
• Individual differences in task strategies are crucial for understanding joint action performance.