Simultaneous self-other integration and segregation support real-time interpersonal coordination in a musical joint action task

Acta Psychologica, vol. 218, pp. 103348

Abstract

The ability to distinguish between an individual's own actions and those of another person is a requirement for successful joint action, particularly in domains such as group music making where precise interpersonal coordination ensures perceptual overlap in the effects of co-performers' actions. We tested the hypothesis that such coordination benefits from simultaneous integration and segregation of information about 'self' and 'other' in an experiment using a musical joint action paradigm. Sixteen pairs of individuals with little or no musical training performed a dyadic synchronization task on a pair of electronic music boxes. The relationship between pitches produced by paired participants (same vs. different) and the relationship between movement frequencies required to trigger synchronous tones (congruent vs. incongruent) were varied in a repeated measures design. The results indicate that interpersonal coordination was most accurate when sounds were different in pitch but movement frequency was congruent. Under other conditions, participants often drifted apart, resulting in poor coordination, especially with same sounds and incongruent movements across co-performers. These findings suggest that interpersonal coordination was facilitated when simultaneous self-other integration and segregation occurred across sensory modalities in an asymmetrical manner where pitch relations favoured segregation via auditory streaming while movement congruence favoured integration via visuo-motor coupling. Such self-other representational balance may enable co-performers to maintain autonomous control while attending, anticipating, and adapting to each other's timing when joint action requires precise temporal coordination.

Authors 4

1. Hannah Liebermann‐Jordanidis

   University of Cologne · University Hospital Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Medical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Germany

2. Giacomo Novembre

   Italian Institute of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rome, Italy

3. Iring Koch Aachen Cognitive and Experimental Psychology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cognitive and Experimental Psychology, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany

4. Peter Erik Keller corresponding

   Western Sydney University

   Affiliation as printed

   MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia. Electronic address: p.keller@westernsydney.edu.au

   MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia