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Abstract

Classically the process of human interaction was assumed to rely mainly on
higher-level cognitive processes (e.g. inference) whereas more recent
evidence suggests that lower-level (e.g. perceptual) processes may play an
important role. These findings suggest that information about the
interaction partner is beneficial for th
e performance of a joint task. In order
to test this hypothesis we designed a cooperative table tennis task in which
we manipulated visual information about both interaction partners (e.g.
about the paddles and about the body movements). We found that joint task
performance increases, if this additional information is available. Therefore,
we concluded that information about the other's actions and/or information
about the own actions seem to be an important source of information for the
performance of a joint task. In a second experiment we addressed the
question of whether joint performance pr
ofits from participants perceiving
their own actions (e.g. seeing their own paddle) or from participants
perceiving the interaction partner's actions (e.g. seeing the other's paddle).
The result will shed light into the processes which govern human interaction.