Dancing together in virtual space: experiential and agentive dimensions of perceptual crossing support microactivities and dynamic embodiment in social cognition

The Perceptual Crossing Paradigm (PCP) is one of the most radical settings in social cognition research, as it confines dyadic encounter to one-dimensional movements in a virtual space and haptic feedback via human-computer interfaces. While the PCP has already led to insightful results in different settings and populations, the first-person perspective of participants on their experience and agency has not yet been systematically investigated. However, to understand the precise mechanisms by which test partners interact and identify each other, and the role that embodiment plays in this, behavioral data must be complemented by qualitative first-person data. Therefore, our PCP study (N=54) included open-ended self-reports collected over six trials which were analyzed with a mixed-methods approach using qualitative coding and different forms of quantification and statistical tests. Qualitatively, the 62 codes organized in hierarchical levels provide a fine-grained picture of individual experience (e.g., fourteen emotions) and interindividual aspects of agency (action phases, proactive and receptive microactivities originating from both partners). Unexpectedly, in quantitative regard, code frequencies of all four microactivities were significantly higher in this minimalistic setting compared to other social cognition studies with more natural settings. And their distribution across the action phases (intention, action execution, evaluation) yielded a significant pattern that can be explained by differentiating physical and mental actions as stronger and weaker forms of embodiment, supporting a dynamically embodied concept of social interaction.