Reciprocity and alignment: Quantifying coupling in dynamic interactions
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Recent accounts of social cognition focus on how we do things together, suggesting that becoming aligned relies on a reciprocal exchange of information. The next step is to develop richer computational methods that quantify the degree of coupling and describe the nature of the information exchange. We put forward a definition of coupling, comparing it to related terminology and detail, available computational methods and the level of organization to which they pertain, presenting them as a hierarchy from weakest to richest forms of coupling. The rationale is that a temporally coherent link between two dynamical systems at the lowest level of organization sustains mutual adaptation and alignment at the highest level. Postulating that when we do things together, we do so dynamically over time and we argue that to determine and measure instances of true reciprocity in social exchanges is key. Along with this computationally rich definition of coupling, we present challenges for the field to be tackled by a diverse community working towards a dynamic account of social cognition.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 210138 |
Journal | Royal Society open science |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 5 |
Publication status | Published - May 2021 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
Externally published | Yes |
External IDs
ORCID | /0000-0001-6540-5891/work/150883500 |
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Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- alignment, coupling, multi-scale dynamics, reciprocity, social cognition