Self-organized Interpersonal Anticipation and Anticipatory Synchronization

Recent research in physics has uncovered evidence to suggest that small temporal feedback delays may actually enhance (rather than hinder) an individual’s ability to synchronize with unpredictable, chaotic events. This counter intuitive phenomenon is referred to as self-organized anticipatory coordination. We have been exploring whether the lawful process of self-organized anticipatory coordination might also underlie the ability of individuals to anticipate the complex and seemingly unpredictable behaviors of co-actors during social interaction. We are also exploring whether dynamical and computational models that incorporate small time-delay coupling functions are able to foster and enhance anticipatory behavior during human-machine interaction.

SELECT RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

Washburn, A., Kallen, R. W., Lamb, M., Stepp, N., Shockley, K., & Richardson, M. J. (2019). Feedback delays can enhance anticipatory synchronization in human-machine interaction. PloS one, 14(8).

Washburn, A., Kallen, R. W., Shockley, K., & Richardson, M. J. (2015). Harmony from Chaos: Anticipatory Synchronization and Complexity Matching in Aperiodic Interpersonal Coordination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. DOI:10.1037/xhp0000080