Early learning differences between intra- and interpersonal interlimb coordination

Intrinsic coordination patterns exist between limbs such that 1) coordination at these states is inherently stable, 2) any other pattern requires learning to produce, and 3) this learning is subject to interference from a systemic bias towards intrinsic patterns. The dynamics that govern intrapersonal interlimb coordination also govern interpersonal coordination. However, intrapersonal coordination exhibits greater coupling strength and thus more stable intrinsic dynamics than interpersonal coordination. Because the strength of intrinsic coordination tendencies has consequences for learning coordination patterns, the differences in coupling strength between intra- and interpersonal coordination should impact the ability to perform new coordination patterns via greater or less interference from intrinsic dynamics. This was investigated by measuring participants’ performance as they learned a new coordination pattern alone (intrapersonal) or in pairs (interpersonal). Participants were implicitly tasked with learning the pattern as they separately controlled the vertical and horizontal position of an on-screen cursor to trace a circling target. We observed better performance of dyads on first trial and steeper learning trajectories for individuals. Overall, these results indicate that individuals experienced greater interference from stronger intrinsic coordination dynamics during early learning but could overcome this interference and achieve similar performance to that of dyads with very little practice.