Movement constraints on interpersonal coordination and communication

The present study investigated whether constraining movement affects interpersonal coordination and cognitive performance. Participants worked in pairs to complete a series of cooperative picture-puzzle tasks in which they discussed and found differences between their respective puzzles relying only on verbal communication. Pairs participated in each of three degree-of-constraint conditions: either both participants were free to move their hands (FF), both participants had their hands restrained (RR), or one participant (Person 1) had his or her hands restrained while the other was free to move (FR). During any given trial, neither participant was informed of the degree-of-constraint of his/her partner. Eye tracking data was collected, and movement was measured at the waist, hand, and head in the Anterior-Posterior (AP) direction. Data were analyzed using Cross-Recurrence Quantification Analysis (CRQ) and Joint-Recurrence Quantification Analysis (JRQ). Postural sway coordination, gaze coordination, as well as cognitive performance were predicted to be highest in FF, followed by RR. The lowest degree of coordination and cognitive performance was expected to be found in the FR condition. Results showed that whenever there were significant differences in coordination patterns between conditions, the asymmetric condition generally exhibited lesser degrees of coordination, and that, whenever there was a difference in the overall amount of coordination, the condition in which both participants were free to move exhibited greater coordination. However, it was also the case that the structural patterning of coordination was dependent upon the location of measurement for the conditions in which both individuals were restrained and when both individuals. Additionally, in spite of the fact that the restraint manipulation did not have a significant influence on task performance, correlations between task performance and movement measures showed significant positive relationships between movement, number of utterances, and number of differences found, indicating a relationship between movement and task performance consistent with my hypotheses. Taken in sum, these results show that both coordination and cognitive performance are sensitive to constraints placed the action system.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Cincinnati

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Tolston, Michael T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shockley, Kevin

• Psychology
• Interpersonal
• Coordination
• Embodied
• Communication
• Eye Tracking

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1353155491

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:ucin1353155491