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we understand this kind of synchrony when it occurs? In the Western intellectual tradition, we have a strong tendency to search and explain events in terms of individual agency and causation. Social events are generally understood in terms of contributions of the individual and the situation itself. The degree to which the person or the situational constraints shape the nature of the event will vary greatly. However, spontaneous and prolonged entrainment among three or more people introduces an experience that is difficult to explain by these more traditional accounts. These experiences cannot be easily reduced the actions of a single person, so an account has to be found in some source that goes beyond the individual. The powerful sense of unity and belonging that emerges from this kind of experience almost demands a different kind of explanation than we generally consider. Indeed, such feelings emerging from the synchrony of behavior may provide some of the foundation for the cultural interpretation of a transcendental experience. References 'Ne’da, Z., Ravasz, E., Brechet, Y., Vicsek, T., & Barabasi, A. L. (2000a). The sound of many hands clapping*Tumultuous applause can transform itself into waves of synchronized clapping. Nature, 403, 849 850. * Ne’ da, Z., Ravasz, E., Vicsek, T., Brechet, Y., & Barabasi, A. L. (2000b). Physics of the rhythmic applause. Physical Review E, 61, 6987 6992. > Semin, G. R. & Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Grounding Social Cognition: Synchronization, Entrainment, and Page |63 Coordination. In G.R. Semin & E.R. Smith (Eds.), Embodied grounding: Social, cognitive, affective, and neuroscientific approaches (pp. 119- 148). New York: Cambridge University Press * Semin, G. R. & Cacioppo, J. T. (2009). From Embodied Representation to Co- Regulation. In J. A. Pineda (Ed.). “Mirror Neuron Systems: The Role of Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition.” (pp. 107-120). Humana Press. > Iacoboni, M., Woods, R. P., Brass, M.., Bekkering, H., Mazziotta, J. C., & Rizzolatti, G. (1999) Science, 286:2526— 2528 ° Elsinger C. L., Harrington D. L., & Rao S. M. (2006). From preparation to online control: Reappraisal of neural circuitry mediating internally generated and externally guided actions. Neurolmage 31:1177-1187. ’ Baldissera, F., Cavallari, P., Craighero, L., & Fadiga, L (2001). Modulation of spinal excitability during observation of hand actions in humans, Huropean Journal of Neuroscience, 13, 190 -194. * Strogatz, S. (2003). Rhythms of nature, rhythms of ourselves. London: Allan Lane. ? Tognoli, E., Lagarde, J., DeGuzman, C. D., Kelso, J. A. S. (2007). The phi complex as a neuromarker of human social coordination. PNAS, 19, 8190- 8195. ' Oullier, O. & Kelso, J. A. S. (2009, in press). Coordination from the perspective of Social Coordination Dynamics. Encyclopedia of Complexity and System Science., 1-29. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021309