Join us on BeyondPhrenology as we dive into the fascinating world of human interaction dynamics with Dr. Alexandra Paxton. Explore how communication, emotion, and movement interplay as complex systems, from a single human to the whole society. Learn how cutting-edge data-rich research methods are transforming psychology and uncover the ethical considerations behind using human-derived data. Discover the science of interpersonal synchrony, its role in resolving conflict, and what the future holds for understanding the ever-evolving dance of human connection on both individual and societal levels.
Also on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0iuAd8KkA1WjZKZijf1TDA
TIMELINE
00:00:00 - Introduction: Exploring what it means to study more than just "a human"
00:01:50 - Alexandra's journey: From curiosity to contributing to BeyondPhrenology
00:04:45 - The motivation: Why study the dynamics of social interactions?
00:07:55 - The distinction: What makes the dynamical systems approach unique?
00:11:30 - Beyond academia: Practical and personal reasons for studying dynamical social interactions
00:14:30 - Breaking it down: Nonlocal causality, multi-causality, context dependency, and nonlinear humans in a linear world
00:18:30 - A paradigm shift: Challenging the illusion of individuality
00:23:00 - Blurred lines: Where is the boundary between individual and collective?
00:26:25 - Shared narratives: Democratizing both success and failure
00:29:30 - Turning points: Inducing, preventing, and managing tipping points at various scales
00:35:50 - The network effect: Complex dynamical networks and manipulating cascades within social systems
00:40:10 - Behind the scenes: The work in the Dyscord Lab
00:46:35 - The reproducibility crisis: Insights from the dynamical systems approach
00:51:20 - The power of words: Exploring "I love you" and "I hate you" through a dynamical lens
00:53:00 - Multicriticality: Hyperdimensional criticality in social interactions
00:56:10 - Scaling limitations: A rant on academic pressures in complex systems research
01:04:50 - Eureka moments: Alexandra's breakthroughs and insights
01:10:55 - A distraction: Societal portrayals of the new generation
01:12:30 - Harmony in complexity: Interpersonal synchrony and conflict resolution
01:17:50 - Cultural cues: The role of symbols and punctuations in interpersonal synchrony
01:20:15 - Tuning the human radios: Interpersonal synchrony as specific interlocutors
01:20:50 - Conflict resolution: Achieving harmony through interpersonal synchrony
01:25:10 - The psychology of rituals: Insights on rituals, cults, and hypnosis
01:30:00 - Looking ahead: Big things to look forward to
Alexandra Paxton: psychology.uconn.edu/person/alexandra-paxton/
Dr. Paxton's work:
Frame-differencing methods for measuring bodily synchrony in conversation: doi.org/10.3758/s13428-012-0249-2
Complexity matching in dyadic conversation: psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/xge0000021
Movement dynamics reflect a functional role for weak coupling and role structure in dyadic problem solving: doi.org/10.1007/s10339-015-0648-2
An exploratory analysis of emotion dynamics between mothers and adolescents during conflict discussions: psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/emo0000180
Interpersonal movement synchrony responds to high- and low-level conversational constraints: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01135
Finding the traces of behavioral and cognitive processes in big data and naturally occurring datasets: doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0874-x
Beyond consistency: Contextual dependency of language style in monolog and conversation: doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12834
Acoustic information about upper limb movement in voicing: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004163117
Online social cohesion reflects real-world group action in Syria during the Arab Spring: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254087
Aligned bodies, united hearts: Embodied emotional dynamics of an Islamic ritual: doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0162