title: Perceived interpersonal synchrony increases empathy: Insights from autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: This study investigated the effect of unilateral interpersonal synchrony on empathy in two simple leader-follower finger tapping communication tasks in individuals with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In unilateral synchronization, one individual within a dyad (the follower) unilaterally adjusts his or her movements to entrain to the movements of the other (the leader). Perceived synchrony, i.e., being followed by a synchronous virtual partner when leading an interaction, increased subjective cognitive empathy (understanding other's mental states) towards the virtual follower in participants without, but not those with ASD. In the ASD group, the degree of produced synchrony, i.e., entrainment to the virtual leader when following in an interaction, was associated with higher cognitive empathy performance as measured with external objective tasks. These results point to a mediating role for interpersonal synchronization in cognitive empathy, a mechanism that seems attenuated, yet not absent, in ASD.
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence, Languages of Emotion, Freie Universitat Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: svenja.koehne@hu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koehne
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence, Languages of Emotion, Freie Universitat Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatri
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848, S. University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Cacioppo
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence, Languages of Emotion, Freie Universitat Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dziobek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Autism; Empathy; Imitation; Synchronization; Theory of mind