Coordination (Graduate)

Coordination is a fundamental property of Nature, in both living and not living things. Planets are coordinated, and so are the billions of cells in our body.

In human behavior, the adequate cooperation of neurons, segments, joints, muscles, but also of persons and populations, is a requirement for achieving successful performance.

This course concentrates on (i) things that are common and different in various coordinated behaviors, (ii) formal analyses allowing the capture of coordination between two or more elements, (iii) evaluation of the dynamics of various (self-organized) coordinated behaviors, (iv) persistence and/or change in dynamics under the influence of various coalescences of constraints.

Outline:

• Coordination and levels of coordination. From planets to neurons to populations
• Human behavior viewed as a coordination problem
• Bernstein, Poincaré, and others: The degrees of freedom problem
• Capturing coordination
• Coordination dynamics, intrinsic dynamics
• Coalition of constraints
• Self-organization, chaos, and chaos ‘control’ in human behavior
• Changes in coordination dynamics during learning, rehabilitation, sport
• Interface design and coordination dynamics

A skilled example of coordinated behavior. Click here