Synchronization in Dancing is Not Winner--Takes--All: Ambiguity Persists in Spatiotemporal Symmetry Between Dancers

Symmetry formation, symmetry breaking, and the strength of symmetric coupling in social interaction are investigated using motion capture data from pairs of individuals dancing to repeating rhythms. Repeating auditory rhythms are a simple form of temporal symmetry in which local entropy can be controlled. Spatio--temporal symmetry is formed when an individual performs cyclic movements, such as dancing to a repeating rhythm. Social spatio--temporal symmetry is formed when two individuals dance together. Rhythmic patterns can be ambiguous, having two or more segmentation points that listeners might perceive as the beginning of a rhythmic pattern. But subjects report hearing only one organization, implying that temporal symmetry is Gestalt--like: a winner--takes--all process. In the present study, the degree of temporal ambiguity in auditory stimuli was found to have a significant effect on measures of coherence, suggesting that competing spatiotemporal symmetric organizations were involved in the social interaction between dancers. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Steven M. Boker Dept. of Psychology Haggar Hall room 118 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556 Tel: 1-574-631-4941 Fax: 1-574-631-8883 Email: [email protected]