Visual influences on postural and manual interpersonal coordination during a joint precision task

Abstract

We investigated whether the interpersonal postural coordination that occurs during a joint supra-postural, manual precision task is driven by the constraints of the task, or, instead results from visual entrainment to the movements of a co-actor. Participants were instructed to coordinate their finger movements under conditions where participants could see others' whole-body movements or could only see the results of the other's actions. Participants' finger and torso movements were recorded. Coordination was quantified using cross-recurrence quantification analysis measures. Interpersonal coordination was enhanced by, although it did not depend entirely upon, visual information about the co-actor's body movements.