A case of hand waving: Action synchrony and person perception

While previous research has demonstrated that people’s movements can become coordinated during social interaction, little is known about the cognitive consequences of behavioral synchrony. Given intimate links between the systems that regulate perception and action, we hypothesized that the synchron...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognition 2008-10, Vol.109 (1), p.152-156
Main Authors: Macrae, C. Neil, Duffy, Oonagh K., Miles, Lynden K., Lawrence, Julie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action
Attention
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognitive Processes
Entrainment
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gestures
Hand
Humans
Imitation
Individual behaviour
Interaction
Interpersonal Relations
Interpersonal Relationship
Male
Motion
Movement
Nonverbal Communication
Perception
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social Cognition
Social exchange
Social interaction
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social Perception
Social psychology
Synchrony
Visual Perception
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Summary:While previous research has demonstrated that people’s movements can become coordinated during social interaction, little is known about the cognitive consequences of behavioral synchrony. Given intimate links between the systems that regulate perception and action, we hypothesized that the synchronization of movements during a dyadic interaction may prompt increased attention to be directed to an interaction partner, hence facilitate the information that participants glean during a social exchange. Our results supported this prediction. Incidental memories for core aspects of a brief interaction were facilitated following in-phase behavioral synchrony. Specifically, participants demonstrated enhanced memory for an interaction partner’s utterances and facial appearance. These findings underscore the importance of action perception to social cognition.
ISSN:0010-0277
1873-7838
DOI:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.007