Interpersonal Movement Synchronization in Fast Continuous Tapping Tasks during Competition

Abstract

Interpersonal synchronization in competitions has been proposed according to the result of an analysis of a race in which a 100-meter sprint world record was set; however, the phenomenon has not been experimentally verified. In this study, we investigated this phenomenon using a simple reciprocating movement of the body in a laboratory setting. Synchronization was examined from the relative phase values obtained from the normalized time-series coordinate data of the two participants who engaged in periodic movement of the arms (participating in competition with one another). The results showed that, in trials where in-phase or anti-phase synchronization occurred, three patterns emerged: the movement time (MT) of both subjects decreased, the MT of both subjects increased, and the MT of one subject decreased and the MT of the other subject increased. The relationship between synchronization and MT in competition, as shown by the results, is not uniform and has not yet been clarified; however, it shows that synchronization occurs between two subjects in competition, despite being thought to move independently.