Are Two Hands (from Different People) Better than One? Transfer between Unimanual, Bimanual, and Intermanual Coordination Modes

• Published in: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 1386 - 1390
• Main Authors: Crites, Michael J., Gorman, Jamie C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-09-2012
• ISSN: 1541-9312; 1071-1813; 2169-5067
• DOI: 10.1177/1071181312561395

We report an experiment investigating transfer effects between unimanual (one-handed), bimanual (two-handed), and intermanual (different peoples’ hands) coordination modes. From an information-based perspective, coordination at the individual level should positively transfer to coordination at the interpersonal level, and vise versa. From a constraint-based perspective, simpler coordination tasks (e.g., at the individual level) should positively transfer to a more complex one (e.g., at the interpersonal level), but not vise versa. Participants drove a teleoperated rover using different manual coordination modes in a within-subjects design, and their speed was measured. The resulting pattern of transfer effects across coordination modes is better accounted for by a constraint-based explanation. However, those transfer effects disappear rapidly with practice. The current results lead us to conclude that team motor skills are not immediately transferable to individual motor skills.