The dimensionality of movement trajectories and the degrees of freedom problem: A tutorial

Abstract

A framework for investigating the degrees of freedom problem (how the large number of degrees of freedom (dfs) at micro-levels of analysis are compressed to the smaller number of dfs at the macro-level of behavior) is discussed. The discussion centers around the use of dynamical systems as models of coordinative structures. Dimensionality analysis, a technique for assessing the dfs of an observable behavior, is explained both intuitively and in detail. By measuring the dfs being produced by actors, we can constrain our dynamical models of how actors produce coordinated behavior.