Interpersonal Coordination and Individual Organization Combined with Shared Phenomenological Experience in Rowing Performance: Two Case Studies

Abstract

The principal aim of this study was to examine the impact of variability in interpersonal coordination and individual organization on rowing performance. The second aim was to analyze crew phenomenology in order to understand how rowers experience their joint actions when coping with constraints emerging from the race. We conducted a descriptive and exploratory study of two coxless pair crews during a 3000-m rowing race against the clock. As the investigation was performed in an ecological context, we postulated that our understanding of the behavioral dynamics of interpersonal coordination and individual organization and the variability in performance would be enriched through the analysis of crew phenomenology. The behavioral dynamics of individual organization were assessed at kinematic and kinetic levels, and interpersonal coordination was examined by computing the relative phase between oar angles and oar forces and the difference in the oar force impulse of the two rowers. The inter-cycle variability of the behavioral dynamics of one international and one national crew was evaluated by computing the root mean square and the Cauchy index. Inter-cycle variability was considered significantly high when the behavioral and performance data for each cycle were outside of the confidence interval. Crew phenomenology was characterized on the basis of self-confrontation interviews and the rowers' concerns were then analyzed according to course-of-action methodology to identify the shared experiences. Our findings showed that greater behavioral variability could be either “perturbing” or “functional” depending on its impact on performance (boat velocity); the rowers experienced it as sometimes meaningful and sometimes meaningless; and their experiences were similar or diverging. By combining phenomenological and behavioral data, we explain how constraints not manipulated by an experimenter but emerging from the ecological context of a race can be associated with functional adaptations or perturbations of the interpersonal coordination.

Interpersonal Coordination: Methods, Achievements, and Challenges

“…This system was developed to simultaneously obtain measurements of the angles and forces of rowing team members and the acceleration and speed of boats. For example, the utilization of this system combined with phenomenological measures allowed Seifert et al (2017) to study the interpersonal coordination of two pairs of rowers who participated in a race against the clock. Researchers found evidence of complex dynamic interpersonal coordination among rower pairs that was adapted according to its effect on performance.…”

“…Researchers found evidence of complex dynamic interpersonal coordination among rower pairs that was adapted according to its effect on performance. Therefore, Seifert et al (2017) emphasized that the utilization of different data sources enriched the understanding of complexities underlying the interpersonal coordination of rower pairs.…”

“…For example, Vicaria and Dickens (2016) presented an exhaustive meta-analysis of interpersonal coordination outcomes, and Rennung and Göritz (2016) did the same with the prosocial consequences of interpersonal synchrony. Other recent publications reviewed findings of interpersonal coordination in particular samples, such as patients with mental disorders ( Del-Monte et al, 2013 ), and specific contexts such as dance ( Torrents et al, 2016 ) and sports ( Araújo et al, 2016 ; Passos and Chow, 2016 ; Yamamoto et al, 2016 ; Seifert et al, 2017 ). Jakubowski et al (2017) compared the efficacy of three different computer vision techniques with motion capture systems to study interpersonal coordination in musical performances.…”

Enactive Phenomenological Approach to the Trier Social Stress Test: A Mixed Methods Point of View

“…section 6 of the protocol). Lastly, this specific interview and its analysis are time-consuming and limit the number of participants in the mixed methods; studies with the enactive phenomenological framework usually have an number of participants between 4 and 13 14,15,18,19,20,27,49,50,51 . This particularity of in-depth qualitative research with case studies raises the question of generalization of the results.…”

“…The present protocol develops the original mixed methods approach mainly used in an earlier publication 13 . The originality of this mixed methods research lies in the qualitative approach based on an enactive phenomenological framework 13,14,15,16 to examine accurately participants' experiences when confronted with the TSST and the TSST-G. Qualitative investigations can be heuristic because they make it possible to characterize and analyze what is happening psychologically for participants in a particular situation 17 . Last, the enactive phenomenological approach allows researchers to understand the participants' points of view and, thus, to analyze stress and emotion 18,19,20 .…”