Analyzing social interactions: The promises and challenges of using cross recurrence quantification analysis

Abstract

The scientific investigation of social interactions presents substantial challenges: interacting agents engage each other at many different levels and timescales (motor and physiological coordination, joint attention, linguistic exchanges, etc.), often making their behaviors interdependent in non-linear ways. In this paper we review the current use of Cross Recurrence Quantification Analysis (CRQA) in the analysis of social interactions, and assess its potential and challenges. We argue that the method can sensitively grasp the dynamics of human interactions, and that it has started producing valuable knowledge about them. However, much work is still necessary: more systematic analyses and interpretation of the recurrence indexes and more consistent reporting of the results, more emphasis on theory-driven studies, exploring interactions involving more than 2 agents and multiple aspects of coordination, and assessing and quantifying complementary coordinative mechanisms. These challenges are discussed and operationalized in recommendations to further develop the field.