Schedule of Events | Symposia

Sketchpad Series

Me or Us? Mine or Yours? Here or There? Neural and behavioral responses of prediction in Joint Action

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 3 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Constitution A.

Rosari Naveena Selvan^1,2, Minghao Cheng², Anoushiravan Zahedi¹, Florentin Wörgötter², Ricarda I. Schubotz¹; ¹University of Münster, ²University of Göttingen

Everyday life is filled with instances of joint action, including cooking together, unloading groceries from the car, or playing games. Research suggests that our brains employ a dual hierarchical predictive model to anticipate our own and our partner's actions simultaneously. This hierarchical model has been suggested to have three layers: a sensorimotor layer, a sequence/subgoal layer, and a schema/common goal layer. This study aims to investigate the interplay between shared intention, sub-goal coordination, and movement coordination. We hypothesized that these levels could be modeled as a flexibly coupled dual predictive hierarchy with varying degrees of coupling strength. To test this hypothesis, we employed a two-by-two-by-two factorial design, manipulating the presence/absence of shared common goal, sub-goal coordination, and movement coordination. N=70 participants engage in teams of two players in a novel card game simulating naturalistic joint action scenario. Hand and eye movements are recorded from both players, and EEG is recorded from one of the players. Computer vision is used to map game actions to players' eye movements to analyze successful predictions and errors. Neural (EEG) responses to different levels of coordination – goal, sub-goal, and movement - are analyzed using Hidden Markov Models (HMM), while Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) will be used to explore the activation of the Action Observation Network (AON) and the Theory of Mind (ToM) network. By investigating these measures, our findings will shed light on the mechanisms underlying joint action coordination and the role of predictive processing in facilitating efficient and adaptable interpersonal interactions.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Motor control