Beyond simultaneity: temporal interdependence of behaviour is key to affiliative effects of interpersonal synchrony in children

Interpersonal synchrony (IS) is the temporal co-ordination of behavior during social interactions. IS acts as a social cue signifying affiliation, both when children witness IS between others and when they experience it themselves. However, it is unclear which temporal qualities of IS produce these effects, and why. We hypothesized that the simultaneity and temporal regularity of partners’ actions would each influence affiliation judgements, and that subjective perceptions of IS (‘togetherness’) would play a role in mediating these relations. In two online studies, children aged 4-11 years listened to a pair of children tapping together (witnessed IS; N=68) or themselves tapped with another child (experienced IS; N=63). Tapping partners were presented as real but were virtual. The simultaneity and regularity of their tapping was systematically manipulated across trials. For witnessed IS, both the simultaneity and regularity of partners’ tapping significantly positively affected the perceived degree of affiliation between them. These effects were mediated by the perceived togetherness of the tapping. No affiliative effects of IS were found in the experienced IS condition. Our findings suggest that both the simultaneity and regularity of partners’ actions influence children’s affiliation judgements when witnessing IS, via elicited perceptions of togetherness. We conclude that temporal interdependence – which includes but is not limited to simultaneity of action – is responsible for inducing perceptions of affiliation during witnessed IS

The components of interpersonal synchrony in the typical population and in autism: a conceptual analysis

Interpersonal synchrony – the tendency for social partners to temporally co-ordinate their behaviour when interacting – is a ubiquitous feature of social interactions. Synchronous interactions play a key role in development, and promote social bonding and a range of pro-social behavioural outcomes across the lifespan. The process of achieving and maintaining interpersonal synchrony is highly complex, with inputs required from across perceptual, temporal, motor, and socio-cognitive domains. In this conceptual analysis, we synthesise evidence from across these domains to establish the key components underpinning successful non-verbal interpersonal synchrony, how such processes interact, and factors that may moderate their operation. We also consider emerging evidence that interpersonal synchrony is reduced in autistic populations. We use our account of the components contributing to interpersonal synchrony in the typical population to identify potential points of divergence in interpersonal synchrony in autism. The relationship between interpersonal synchrony and broader aspects of social communication in autism are also considered, together with implications for future research

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Interpersonal synchrony and affiliation in typically developing children and children with emerging emotional and behavioural difficulties

Interpersonal synchrony (IS) is the temporal co-ordination of behaviour during social interactions. For typically developing (TD) children, IS has important social consequences, promoting affiliation and prosocial behaviour between social partners, and informing children’s understanding of the relationships of others. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to the affiliative effects of IS; whether IS holds social significance for atypically developing children; and what factors account for variation in social sensitivity to IS. This thesis explored how IS influenced the social judgements of typically and atypically developing children. In Chapter 2, findings from a novel experimental paradigm indicated that both simultaneity and temporal regularity contributed to the affiliative effects of IS when TD children witnessed IS, with this effect mediated by their perceptions of partners’ ‘togetherness’. However, when children experienced IS in a limited social context, no affiliative effects were observed, suggesting that positive social effects arise from experienced IS only when social presence/partner engagement is sufficiently salient. The same tasks were then used to investigate the social effects of IS in children with emerging emotional and behavioural difficulties (EE&BDs) (Chapter 3), finding limited evidence that IS was socially relevant for this group. Chapter 4 profiled two fundamental synchrony-related processes in children with EE&BDs: synchrony perception and motor synchrony. Abilities in both domains varied considerably in the sample, with performance increasing with age. To investigate the processes that might contribute to reduced social sensitivity to IS in children with EE&BDs, Chapter 5 brought together the evidence from Chapter 3 and 4, finding that social sensitivity to IS in children with EE&BDs (Chapter 3) was not related to perceptual and motor synchrony abilities (Chapter 4), or to theory of mind (ToM). Overall, the social judgements of TD children were reliably guided by IS when witnessing IS, but IS had limited social significance for children with EE&BDs. IS likely plays a role in the diverging social experiences of typically and atypically developing children, contributing to differences in social communication commonly observed in atypical development