The Feeling Is Mutual: Clarity of Haptics-Mediated Social Perception Is Not Associated With the Recognition of the Other, Only With Recognition of Each Other

Abstract

The enactive theory of perception hypothesizes that perceptual access to objects depends on the mastery of sensorimotor contingencies, that is, on the know-how of the regular ways in which changes in sensations depend on changes in movements. This hypothesis can be extended into the social domain: perception of other minds is constituted by mastery of self-other contingencies, that is, by the know-how of the regular ways in which changes in others' movements depend on changes in one's movements. We investigated this proposal using the perceptual crossing paradigm, in which pairs of players are required to locate each other in an invisible one-dimensional virtual space by using a minimal haptic interface. We recorded and analyzed the real-time embodied social interaction of 10 pairs of adult participants. The results reveal a process of implicit perceptual learning: on average, clarity of perceiving the other's presence increased over trials and then stabilized. However, a clearer perception of the other was not associated with correctness of recognition as such, but with both players correctly recognizing each other. Furthermore, the moments of correct mutual recognition tended to happen within seconds. The fact that changes in social experience can only be explained by the successful performance at the level of the dyad, and that this veridical mutual perception tends toward synchronization, lead us to hypothesize that integration of neural activity across both players played a role.

Embodied Rationality Through Game Theoretic Glasses: An Empirical Point of Contact

“…On the other side, it could be the result of an event that is in some strong sense shared across the two participants, and merely reflected in their individual experiences of each other ( strong genuine intersubjectivity ). Indeed, in data reanalyzed by Froese et al ( 2020 ), over 21% of the joint success trials show participants clicking within 3 s of each other. In other words, not only do participants develop social awareness of each other, they do so nearly at the same time.…”

“…Recent work has shifted toward investigating how strongly shared this kind of act is or can be (Froese et al, 2020 ; Hermans et al, 2020 ), and how variability across people enables it or hinders it (Zapata-Fonseca et al, 2018 , 2019 ). For instance, Hermans et al ( 2020 ) introduce a new measure of subjective experience and show that it is stronger in cases in which both participants click successfully, compared to cases in which neither participant clicks successfully, or only one of them does.…”

“…Beyond joint success, Froese et al ( 2020 ) explored the basis for such social awareness. On one side, this could be a simple coordination behavior which allows the pair to enter a region of the dyadic phase space which is otherwise not attainable ( weak genuine intersubjectivity , in the terms of Froese et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Beyond joint success, Froese et al ( 2020 ) explored the basis for such social awareness. On one side, this could be a simple coordination behavior which allows the pair to enter a region of the dyadic phase space which is otherwise not attainable ( weak genuine intersubjectivity , in the terms of Froese et al, 2020 ). On the other side, it could be the result of an event that is in some strong sense shared across the two participants, and merely reflected in their individual experiences of each other ( strong genuine intersubjectivity ).…”

Proprioception in Action: A Matter of Ecological and Social Interaction

“…The aforementioned idea of ecological PK-SMCs can also be applied to the PK perception of another person. From enactive social cognition, it is known that the motor system is involved in social perception (Gallagher, 2009 ; Froese et al, 2020 ). More accurately, in line with ESMT, it has been suggested that social perception consists of the skillful co-regulation of participatory social interaction (De Jaegher et al, 2010 ).…”