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

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.