title: Dyadic drumming across the lifespan reveals a zone of proximal development in children.
abstract: Many social interactions require the synchronization--be it automatically or intentionally--of one's own behavior with that of others. Using a dyadic drumming paradigm, the authors delineate lifespan differences in interpersonal action synchronization (IAS). Younger children, older children, younger adults, and older adults in same- and mixed-age dyads were instructed to drum in synchrony with their interaction partner at a constant, self-chosen tempo. Adult-only dyads showed the highest and children-only the lowest levels of IAS accuracy. It is important to note that children improved reliably in IAS accuracy when paired with older partners. The observed age-related differences in IAS accuracy remained reliable after statistically controlling for individual differences in the ability to synchronize to a metronome and for between-dyad differences in tempo. The authors conclude that IAS improves from middle childhood to adulthood and that adult interaction partners may facilitate its development.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. kleinspehn@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riediger
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmiedek
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: von Oertzen
authors.forename: Shu-Chen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ulman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindenberger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment; D055815:Young Adult