Synchronization in Dancing is Not Winner--Takes--All: Ambiguity Persists in

al Symmetry Between Dancers Steven M. Boker # Eric Covey Stacey Tiberio Pascal Deboeck May 4, 2005 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 e#ect