Figure - available from: Frontiers in Psychology
This content is subject to copyright.
Graph showing the mean response and standard error for symbol and sash color memory, same music, and different music.
Source publication
We report an experiment investigating whether dancing to the same music enhances recall of person-related memory targets. The experiment used 40 dancers (all of whom were unaware of the experiment’s aim), two-channel silent-disco radio headphones, a marked-up dance floor, two types of music, and memory targets (sash colors and symbols). In each tri...
Citations
... From the cognitive perspective, an agent moving in synchrony with us captures our attention and encourages heightened person perception (Macrae et al., 2008). In support of this perspective, adults later remember more visual details about individuals whom danced in-synchrony compared to out-of-synchrony with their own movements (Woolhouse, Tidhar, & Cross, 2016). From the neurohormonal perspective, moving in synchrony with others may increase endorphin release (Cohen et al., 2010;Lang et al., 2017;Tarr et al., 2015) and be facilitated by oxytocin (Gebauer et al., 2016;Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2019). ...
Investigation of the role of music in early life and learning has been somewhat fragmented, with studies being undertaken within a range of fields with little apparent conversation across disciplinary boundaries, and with an emphasis on preschoolers’ and school-aged children’s learning and engagement. The Oxford Handbook of Early Childhood Learning and Development in Music brings together leading researchers in infant and early childhood cognition, music education, music therapy, neuroscience, cultural and developmental psychology, and music sociology to interrogate questions of how our capacity for music develops from birth, and its contributions to learning and development. Researchers in cultural psychology and sociology of musical childhoods investigate those factors that shape children’s musical learning and development and the places and spaces in which children encounter and engage with music. These issues are complemented with consideration of the policy environment at local, national, and global levels in relation to music early learning and development and the ways these shape young children’s music experiences and opportunities. The handbook also explores issues of music provision and developmental contributions for children with special education needs, children living in medical settings and participating in music therapy, and those living in sites of trauma and conflict. Consideration of these environments provides a context to examine music learning and development in family, community, and school settings including general and specialized school environments. Authors trace the trajectories of development within and across cultures and settings and identify those factors that facilitate or constrain children’s early music learning and development.
... While such results would be consistent with a developmental hypothesis that posits the origins of dance in mother-infant mutual entrainment that later becomes formalised movement together, face-to-face, in pairs, with external rhythm [1,2], they might also support an evolutionary hypothesis that reflects the developmental hypothesis. To elaborate, ancestral humans may have first discovered the benefits of mutual entrainment in terms of increasing affective empathy [3,4], an experience that, later, may have been societally formalised in order to preserve the benefits of empathy for prosocial behaviour within evolving small-scale societies, e.g., [5][6][7][8][9][10]. As the brain's capacity for executive control evolved and developed, affective empathy engendered by mutual entrainment may have yielded some of its power in favour of cognitive empathy. ...
This paper employs a novel research design to examine changes in empathy and closeness in partnered face-to-face dance, considering both different types of rhythm (regular, irregular, and no external rhythm, or ‘mutual entrainment only’) and different types of coupling (visual only, haptic only, and full visual and haptic coupling). Two studies were undertaken to pilot the design. In both studies, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Inclusion of Other in the Self were used to measure empathy and closeness, respectively. Study 1 employed 24 participants (12 pairs) distributed across two rhythm conditions, external regular rhythm, and no external rhythm, with full coupling in both conditions. Closeness increased similarly in both conditions. Empathic concern (EC) was significantly affected in the ‘no rhythm’ condition. Study 2 employed 54 participants assigned to form pairs and distributed across all combinations of rhythm and coupling types. Closeness decreased with irregular rhythm. EC increased in the ‘no rhythm’ conditions relative to regular rhythm. Fantasy (F) decreased with haptic coupling only (no visual coupling) while personal distress (PD) increased. In addition, the analyses suggest that perspective taking (PT) increases with irregular rhythm and in the condition without rhythm (mutual entrainment only). This discussion gauges the value of the designs and results for capturing changes in empathy and closeness with different rhythm and coupling types. Capturing such changes is important for research on the origins of dance in empathic mutual entrainment in the mother–infant dyad.
... Some theories rely upon higher-order cognitive processes, such as shared goals, shared intentions, or a perception of self-other similarity (Demos et al., 2012;Reddish et al., 2013;Valdesolo & DeSteno, 2011). Other accounts have suggested that synchrony biases attention to select synchronous stimuli (Bamford et al., 2016;Cirelli et al., 2014;Woolhouse et al., 2016). However, it is not clear why our attention should be drawn to synchrony, nor how synchrony is involved at other stages of stimulus perception. ...
Prior research has found that interpersonal synchrony increases social closeness and cooperation: this is often referred to as the synchrony-bonding effect. Most explanations for this synchrony-bonding effect rely upon higher-order social cognition (e.g. shared goals or self-other merging). Relatively little attention has been given to the perceptual experience of synchrony, and the low-level perceptual mechanisms involved, such as processing fluency. In two pre-registered experiments, we tested the novel hypothesis that synchrony (congruent movement) is easier to process than non-synchrony. In Study 1, no effect of direction congruency on performance was detected. However, Study 2 found a significant effect of speed congruency. This indicates decreased processing load when stimuli are moving at the same speed. We then discuss how these reduced visual stimuli may relate to naturalistic periodic movement. Crucially, the effect observed here does not rely upon social stimuli and may operate at an early stage of perceptual processing. This is an initial step in establishing a novel theory of the synchrony-bonding effect, based upon the principles of processing fluency.
... For example, two people synchronizing together with groovy music might perform better on a current or subsequent task than if they synchronized with the music alone (or if they are unsynchronized). In support of this suggestion, research has shown that participants in a silent-disco paradigm were more likely to remember person-related memory targets of the people they were dancing in synchrony with, compared to those they were dancing out of synchrony with (Woolhouse et al., 2016). Following such studies, it could be hypothesized that interpersonal synchronization to rewarding music should influence not only predictive mechanisms, but also foster social connection and prosocial behavior. ...
Studies of rhythm processing and of reward have progressed separately, with little connection between the two. However, consistent links between rhythm and reward are beginning to surface, with research suggesting that synchronization to rhythm is rewarding, and that this rewarding element may in turn also boost this synchronization. The current mini review shows that the combined study of rhythm and reward can be beneficial to better understand their independent and combined roles across two central aspects of cognition: 1) learning and memory, and 2) social connection and interpersonal synchronization; which have so far been studied largely independently. From this basis, it is discussed how connections between rhythm and reward can be applied to learning and memory and social connection across different populations, taking into account individual differences, clinical populations, human development, and animal research. Future research will need to consider the rewarding nature of rhythm, and that rhythm can in turn boost reward, potentially enhancing other cognitive and social processes.
... Lee, Launay, and Stewart (2020), for example, have shown that perception of social closeness and powerfulness is higher for temporally aligned performances than for experimentally misaligned performances. This corroborates previous findings that, when choreography or silent disco has been used to facilitate or inhibit entrainment between dancers, participants who were entrained subsequently report greater social closeness (Tarr et al., 2016) and perform better on social memory tasks (Woolhouse, Tidhar, & Cross, 2016) and vice versa. Disadvantages regarding ecological validity have led to a second research pathway focusing on the perceptual validation of kinematic coupling features from naturalistic movement. ...
Body movement is a primary nonverbal communication channel in humans. Coordinated social behaviors, such as dancing together, encourage multifarious rhythmic and interpersonally coupled movements from which observers can extract socially and contextually relevant information. The investigation of relations between visual social perception and kinematic motor coupling is important for social cognition. Perceived coupling of dyads spontaneously dancing to pop music has been shown to be highly driven by the degree of frontal orientation between dancers. The perceptual salience of other aspects, including postural congruence, movement frequencies, time-delayed relations, and horizontal mirroring remains, however, uncertain. In a motion capture study, 90 participant dyads moved freely to 16 musical excerpts from eight musical genres, while their movements were recorded using optical motion capture. A total from 128 recordings from 8 dyads maximally facing each other were selected to generate silent 8-s animations. Three kinematic features describing simultaneous and sequential full body coupling were extracted from the dyads. In an online experiment, the animations were presented to 432 observers, who were asked to rate perceived similarity and interaction between dancers. We found dyadic kinematic coupling estimates to be higher than those obtained from surrogate estimates, providing evidence for a social dimension of entrainment in dance. Further, we observed links between perceived similarity and coupling of both slower simultaneous horizontal gestures and posture bounding volumes. Perceived interaction, on the other hand, was more related to coupling of faster simultaneous gestures and to sequential coupling. Also, dyads who were perceived as more coupled tended to mirror their pair's movements.
... One of the opportunities for this solidarity to manifest is a rhythmic and repetitive synchronization of movement. It is an important factor in everyday social interactions [46], strengthening social bonds between the dancers. Their cooperation climbs to a higher level then: "In a group you adapt to others, so that your movements are fluent together with others". ...
... The participants of our research, thanks to joint work on dance routines and choreography, not only developed their individual competences, increasing the individual level of satisfaction. First and foremost, it became easier for them to create and maintain processes important for keeping the integrity of the group, which in the context of a dancing situation manifest through relational memory [46]. It is predominantly the skill to resolve conflicts, the calm, sincere and non-judgmental dialogue, facilitating cooperation, as well as mutual support during rehearsals, shows and everyday life situations. ...
... They are willing to act and undertake new challenges. They regained balance not only on the physical and biological level but also in the sphere of accepting their own body and participating in social groups important to them [46]. Both the European Association of Dance Movement Therapy and the European Association of Body Psychotherapy stress the importance of body and movement in establishing a therapeutic relationship with a patient. ...
The aim of the article is to present the dancing experience of older adult women who increase their well-being through dancing. That aim was realized through conducting qualitative research in accordance with COREQ among the members of a dance group “Gracje” from Wrocław. In the article, we show that senior women dance as a form of physical activity in the pursuit of health, enabling them to maintain the level of physical ability that allows them to fully enjoy different aspects of life. Thus, health is not only attempting to avoid illnesses, but, first of all, experiencing well-being, i.e., satisfaction with life in its physical, mental (cognitive) and social aspects. That satisfaction touches, in particular, such spheres as acceptance of an aging body, a need for personal growth and entering into new social relationships. Increasing that sense of satisfaction and agency (subjectivity) in each of those spheres as a consequence of organized dancing activity should be treated as one of the most important factors responsible for improving the quality of life of older adult women.
... In this case, prosocial behavior was influenced by a religious prime, but not by the synchrony condition; however, group synchrony did increase feelings of connectedness and trust. Woolhouse et al. (2016) began investigating this by getting two groups of participants to dance in a room together, while each group was listening to different music in a two-channel silent disco scenario. Afterwards, each participant was asked to recall certain features of the other participants, and it was found that memory for those in the same group was better than for those of the other group. ...
... It is important to note that this study presented the different groups with entirely different music, so it is impossible to determine whether the observed effects resulted from non-synchronous movement or a difference in the affective qualities of the music. Nevertheless, the findings of Woolhouse et al. (2016) are consistent with much of the previous literature, suggesting that synchronous movement may have an important social function; however, the mechanism they suggest of synchrony mediating attention and enhancing memory for others requires further investigation. ...
... The present study also differs from others, such as Hove and Risen (2009), in that there were always two participants in a dyad, without needing an experimenter to play the part of a confederate. This was done using a silent disco paradigm, similar to that used by Woolhouse et al. (2016), although with only two participants listening to stimuli in either synchronous or non-synchronous conditions, and with the nature of the musical stimulus being kept constant between individuals in the dyad, except for a difference in timing. The silent disco, as employed here, provided a method to manipulate whether participants were dancing in time with each other. ...
Music and dance appear to have a social bonding effect, which some have theorized is part of their ultimate evolutionary function. Prior research has also found a social bonding effect of synchronized movement, and it is possible that interper-sonal synchrony could be considered the "active ingredient" in the social bonding consequences of music or dance activity. The present study aimed to separate the effects of synchrony from other factors associated with joint experience of dancing by using a "silent disco" manipulation, in which the timing of a musical stimulus was varied within a dyad in a freestyle dance setting. Three conditions were included: synchrony, tempo-shifted (in which the tempo was stretched by 5% for one participant), and phase-shifted (in which the beat was offset by 90 degrees for one participant). It was found that, when participants were listening to music in time with each other, they gave higher subjective ratings of their experience interacting with their partner. Participants also were observed looking towards each other more in the synchrony condition, compared with the non-synchrony conditions. From this, it appears that sharing time may contribute to the social effects of joint dancing, independent of any other effects associated with sharing space on the dance-floor. Avenues for further research, and possibilities using this "silent disco" paradigm, are discussed.
... While many of these studies have used finger tapping as a simple rhythmic task, Wiltermuth and Heath (2009) observed a stronger effect of synchronous singing compared with moving, possibly because they were singing a national anthem which may have additional meaning to the participants. The synchrony-bonding effect has also been observed in more naturalistic settings involving rowing (Cohen et al., 2010), choir singing (Pearce et al., 2015), dancing in controlled silent discos (Bamford et al., 2016;Tarr et al., 2016;Wen et al., 2017;Woolhouse et al., 2016) and moving in a virtual reality setting (Tarr et al., 2018). Meta-analyses of prior synchrony-bonding research have found a small but consistent effect across different settings (Mogan et al., 2017;Rennung & Göritz, 2016;Vicaria & Dickens, 2016). ...
... Dyads will tend to orient their head more towards each other when dancing in time in an experimentally controlled silent disco (Bamford, 2017). Since attention is related to memory, the memory for synchronous others is often improved as well (Miles, Nind, et al., 2010;Woolhouse et al., 2016). However, this does not explain why synchrony catches our attention, nor why it would create a heightened sense of affiliation. ...
... By the age of 12 months, synchrony begins to guide a child's preferences for social (but not non-social) stimuli (Tunçgenç et al., 2015). Other studies have used 'silent disco' paradigms to experimentally manipulate synchrony between individuals (Bamford et al., 2016;Tarr et al., 2016;Woolhouse et al., 2016), and the use of immersive virtual reality has enabled researchers to isolate the bonding effects of synchrony from common real-world confounds, such as joint intention (Tarr et al., 2018). Meta-analyses suggest a moderate effect of synchrony on prosocial behaviour and perceived social bonding (Mogan et al., 2017;Rennung & Göritz, 2016;Vicaria & Dickens, 2016). ...
It has often been observed that people like each other more after synchronising actions. This is referred to as the synchrony-bonding effect and it has been observed in a wide variety of settings – from dance to rowing. It has been suggested that music may have evolved alongside human rhythmic abilities in order to support synchronised action to promote social bonding and group cohesion. However, the precise cognitive mechanisms underpinning the synchrony-bonding effect remain opaque.
This thesis aims to bring new insights to the synchrony-bonding effect by testing a novel hypothesis: that the social bonding effects of synchrony arise from processing fluency. To do so, I bring together the general literature on processing fluency as it applies to perceptual preferences and aesthetic judgements, together with existing studies of interpersonal synchrony. I then conduct three empirical studies using novel experimental designs to test the fluency through synchrony hypothesis. Study 1 found that synchrony reduces processing load on a simple visual perception task, when compared with non-synchrony. Study 2 found that synchrony reduces processing load when participating in a rhythmic tapping task, when compared with non-synchrony. Study 3 built upon Study 2 and found that perceived difficulty of a rhythmic tapping task mediated the social bonding effects of synchrony.
These studies reframe synchrony as a means for reducing processing load, which could explain the synchrony-bonding effect as being an effect of processing fluency, rather than of synchrony per se. Thus, the act of synchronising may be considered an act of making oneself easier to process. I discuss these findings in the context of the broader synchrony-bonding literature, consider the implications for the evolution of rhythmic abilities, and attempt to highlight the importance of understanding synchrony in an increasingly de-synchronised world.
... In-group Social behavior: helping, cooperation, compassion, sharing [24][25][26][27], [23], [38], [41], [40,43], [51], [53], [31], [54][55][56] Social grouping: closeness, bonding, connectedness, rapport, affiliation, self-construal [36], [19], [38], [40][41][42], [57,58], [59], [60][61][62][63][64][65], [52,95,66,28,67] Communication: intentional communication, joint action, shared intentionality [36], [27], [56] Perception of other: likeness, trust, formidability, perceived similarity [19], [38,39,41], [53], [62,63], [28], [68] Cognitive: attention, person perception [42], [67], [69][70][71] Non-verbal behavior: eye contact, looking, smiles [23], [68] Self-other merge: overlap [41], [59], [52], [49] Out-group Prosocial behavior: helping, sharing [72][73][74] Self Self esteem [49] Affect: positive affect, emotional valence [18], [50] Physiology: endorphin, oxytocin [51], [52], [28] Table 3 List of studies reporting negative effects of interpersonal synchrony experience as observed between treated individuals (in-group), between treated and non-treated individuals (out-group), and within treated individuals (self). ...
Joint engagement in music often facilitates positive social interaction, effectively shifting participants' perspective from the individual to the collective. The result is tight coordination and uniformity between participants, but at the same time, also remarkable flexibility and creativity. How does music achieve such a fine balance between the strict alignment necessary for coordination, and the substantial latitude necessary for experimentation? To address this question, I propose to analyze joint music engagement within the tight-loose theoretical framework broadly used in the social sciences. Tight-loose theory was originally developed for distinguishing between two archetypical cultural tendencies. On the one hand, tightness, which denotes stringent adherence to social norms, and on the other hand, looseness, which refers to a more flexible and less restrictive attitude towards norms. I posit that the flexible form of collaboration characteristic of musical interaction is due to a coexistence of tightness and looseness within joint engagement in music. I argue that the tight aspects of music can be attributed to its rhythmic structure, which requires continuous and precise temporal alignment between participants. Indeed, when experienced on its own, outside of a musical context, interpersonal synchrony has been repeatedly shown to enhance diverse positive social capacities such as bonding, collaboration and affiliation between interacting individuals, but at the expense of increasing conformity, blind obedience and even hostility towards non-group members. These effects are consistent with synchrony driving a tight interaction, inducing a sense of common group membership (CGM), which can endow music with necessary rigor and order. In contrast, the loose side of music may pertain to the ambiguity in meaning and intention expressed by music, which leaves ample room for interpretation and improvisation. I thus propose that the combined tight-loose nature of music, can simultaneously enhance positive social behaviors and reduce negative ones, leading to a tolerant form of group membership (TGM).
... Older adults' active involvement in dance groups enhances their sense of community belonging and fosters their members' mutual understanding [10,11]. Besides, it motivates individuals to develop new interests and to take part in other activities, ones as varied as painting classes and Esperanto courses [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. As such, dance productively binds together older adults' individual and communal functioning as it enhances their biological outcomes (for example, by strengthening the musculoskeletal system, improving the cardio-respiratory capacity and reducing the risk of metabolic disorders) and socio-cultural wellbeing alike [1, 3,4,[15][16][17][18]20,[22][23][24][25][26][27]. ...
... Besides, it motivates individuals to develop new interests and to take part in other activities, ones as varied as painting classes and Esperanto courses [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. As such, dance productively binds together older adults' individual and communal functioning as it enhances their biological outcomes (for example, by strengthening the musculoskeletal system, improving the cardio-respiratory capacity and reducing the risk of metabolic disorders) and socio-cultural wellbeing alike [1, 3,4,[15][16][17][18]20,[22][23][24][25][26][27]. Addressing and promoting the processes that help to more effectively tap into elderly people's social capital is a civilisational challenge today. ...
... And this is really very pleasant'. Such performances are, first of all, about triggering positive emotions enjoyed by both the dancers and the audience [12,15]. ...
The aim of this paper is to capture older adult women’s experience of dance. To this purpose, a qualitative research study was carried out with members of the ‘Gracje’ dance group. The study used Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action as its theoretical underpinnings. The focus was on the models of action and validity claims expressed in language (narrative). In this theoretical framework, dancing activity has been shown as promoting not only physical health and mental wellbeing but also social involvement. Our study has found that, in and through dance, the older adults primarily realised their claims to pleasure, attractiveness, health and emancipation. This has considerably improved their bodily capacity and increased their self-esteem. However, what the older adults themselves find most important is that the realisation of these claims beneficially affects their interactions in family and neighbourly communities and facilitates their engagement in volunteer activities, helping people at risk of exclusion due to age and/or disability.
