Entrainment in Interpersonal Motor Coordination of Oscillating Lower Legs

Lower legs of two people,oscillating in anti-phase mode were found to be less stable. They could be entrained into in-phase mode by watching each other's oscillating legs. To examine the mechanisms of the interpersonal entrainment phenomenon ,in condition A, one of two people watched the other's leg while oscillating own leg in anti-phase mode in tune to the rhythm of a metronome. Half of eight participants entrained into the oscillating leg of the other member of the pair. When two people watched each other's legs in condition B,the entrainment was observed only when either one,or both,the pair had entrained in condition A. the duration of entrainment was longer when the pair had known each other,than when they had never met until the experiment. These results suggest that the phenomenon of entrainment of the lower legs occurs according to the 'entrained trait' of each individual,rather than through coordinating with each another person. Results also suggest that entrainment is affected by the degree of intimacy between the pair.4KJ00005262539論文departmental bulletin pape