An exploration of the behavioural, electrophysiological, and neural mechanisms underlying joint action

你正在观看两位音乐家表演古典二重唱。每个人都负责演奏他或她自己的乐器，每种乐器都产生自己的声音。然而，你听到的是一首美妙的音乐。你可能会问自己，“他们是如何协调自己的动作来实现如此同步的？”在过去的15年里，人们对联合行动的兴趣激增。联合行动(JA)是指两个或两个以上的个人协调他们的行动以完成一个任务目标。研究人员一直在热衷于探索人们如何能够成功地实现共同的任务目标。以下研究计划有两个目标。第一个是确定影响JA的因素。例如，与他人建立联系的机会如何影响JA？从体育的角度来看，团队凝聚力是如何影响JA的？作为互动式运动队(例如足球)的一员，是否会使一个人比一个协作型运动队(例如田径)的成员更适应社会上的其他人，在那里他们可以与其他人并肩表演，但几乎没有互动？最后，年龄增长对JA有什么影响？有一致的证据表明，同理心在中年后期达到顶峰，之后开始下降。移情可以让你接受他人的观点，这在与他人朝着共同的任务目标努力时很重要。第二个目标是探索在进行JA时大脑活动是如何变化的。为了进一步扩大我们对年龄如何影响JA表现的理解，我们将测量一种名为Mu‘的大脑节奏。Mu节律反映了与移情相关的细胞活动。如果年长的成年人因为无法从他人的角度感知情况而难以完成联合任务，那么这种u节奏应该不同于更善于接受观点的年轻人。最后，当三个人共同完成一项任务时，大脑活动会发生怎样的变化？更多的人可能意味着更少的工作。根据任务所要求的社会互动和责任的程度，大脑活动应该有所不同。这项拟议的研究将为老化对关节性能的影响提供新的见解。这将扩大和补充最近确定JA在婴儿期和儿童期如何发展的努力，并有助于创建一个全面的框架来研究跨知觉-运动寿命的联合行动。此外，它还将产生关于一个人在与多个人朝着共同的任务目标工作时如何感知和行动的新发现。

You are watching two musicians performing a classical duet. Each is responsible for playing his or her own instrument and each instrument produces its own sound. Yet, what you hear is a beautiful piece of music. You might ask yourself, "How are they able to coordinate their movements to achieve such synchrony?" Over the last 15 years, there has been a surge of interest in joint action. Joint action (JA) is when two or more individuals coordinate their actions to accomplish a task goal. Researchers have been feverishly exploring how people are able to successfully achieve a shared task goal. The following research program has two objectives. The first is to identify factors that impact JA. For example, how does the opportunity to bond with another affect JA? From a sports perspective, how does group cohesion influence JA? Does being a member of an interactive sports team (e.g., football) make one more socially tuned' to others than someone who is a member of a coactive sports team (e.g., track and field), where they may perform side-by-side with others but with little interaction? Finally, how does older age affect JA? There is consistent evidence to suggest that empathy peaks in late middle-aged adults and begins to decline thereafter. Empathy allows you to take on another person's views and this is important when working towards a shared task goal with someone. The second objective is to explore how brain activity changes when engaging in JA. To further expand our understanding of how age impacts JA performance, a brain rhythm called mu' will be measured. The mu rhythm reflects activity in cells associated with the processes involved in empathy. If older adults have difficulty performing a joint task because of their inability to perceive a situation from another's point of view, then this mu rhythm should be different than younger adults who are better perspective takers. Lastly, how does brain activity change when there is a group of three people interacting on a joint task? More people can mean less work. Depending on the degree of social interaction and responsibility that the task requires of someone, brain activity should differ. The proposed research will provide novel insights into the impact that aging has on joint performance. This will broaden and complement recent efforts to determine how JA develops during infancy and childhood and help create a comprehensive framework to study joint action across the perceptual-motor lifespan. Additionally, it will generate new findings about how one perceives and acts when working towards a shared task goal with multiple people.