AUTHOR=van Opstal A. A. M. (Daphne) , Benerink Niek H. , Zaal Frank T. J. M. , Casanova Remy , Bootsma Reinoud J. 

TITLE=Information-Based Social Coordination Between Players of Different Skill in Doubles Pong

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01731

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01731

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=We studied how teams of two players of different skill level intercepted approaching balls in the doubles-pong task. In this task, the two players move their on-screen paddles along a shared interception axis, to make sure that the approaching ball is intercepted by one of the paddles and that the paddles do not collide. Earlier work revealed the presence of a clear but fuzzy division of interception space, with a boundary on the interception axis in between the initial paddle positions. In the present study, using the performance of the players in their individual training sessions, we formed teams of players of varying skill level. We considered two accounts of how this boundary should be understood. In a first account, the players have shared knowledge of this boundary. Based on the side of the boundary at which the approaching ball will cross the interception axis, the players decide whose paddle is to make the interception. Under this account, we expected that a better-skilled player would take responsibility for a larger interception domain, leading to a boundary closer to the lesser-skilled player. However, our analyses did not reveal any systematic effect of skill-difference on the location (or degree of fuzziness) of the boundary: locations of boundaries and overlap varied over teams but were not systematically related with skill differences between team members. We did find effects of ball speed and approach angle. In a second account, the boundary emerges from (information-driven) player-player-ball interactions. An action-based model consistent with this account was able to capture all the patterns in boundary positions and overlap that we observed. We conclude that the interception patterns that players demonstrate in the doubles-pong task are best understood as emerging from the unfolding of the dynamics of the system of the two players and the ball, coupled through information.