Abstract
Social partners tend to coordinate their behaviors in time. This “interactional synchrony” is associated with a host of positive social outcomes, making it ripe for study in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty children with ASD and 17 typically developing (TD) children participated in conversations with familiar and unfamiliar adults. Conversations were rated for movement synchrony and verbal synchrony, and mothers completed measures regarding children’s everyday social and communication skills. Children with ASD exhibited less interactional synchrony, with familiar and unfamiliar partners, than TD peers. Beyond group-level differences, interactional synchrony negatively correlated with autism symptom severity, and predicted dimensional scores on established social and communication measures. Results suggest that disrupted interactional synchrony may be associated with impaired social functioning in ASD.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.
Bernieri, F. J. (1988). Coordinated movement and rapport in teacher–student interactions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 12(2), 120–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986930.
Bernieri, F. J., Davis, J. M., Rosenthal, R., & Knee, C. R. (1994). Interactional synchrony and rapport: Measuring synchrony in displays devoid of sound and facial affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(3), 303–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294203008.
Bernieri, F. J., Reznick, J. S., & Rosenthal, R. (1988). Synchrony, pseudosynchrony, and dissynchrony: Measuring the entrainment process in mother-infant interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(2), 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.2.243.
Bernieri, F. J., & Rosenthal, R. (1991). Interpersonal coordination: Behavior matching and interactional synchrony. Fundamentals of Nonverbal Behavior (pp. 401–432). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Bishop, D. V. M. (2006). Children’s Communication Checklist-2. San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
Cappella, J. N. (1977). Behavioral and judged coordination in adult informal interactions: Vocal and kinesic indicators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 119–131.
Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception–behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893–910. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.6.893.
Chartrand, T. L., & Lakin, J. L. (2013). The antecedents and consequences of human behavioral mimicry. Annual Review of Psychology, 64(1), 285–308. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143754.
Condon, W. S., & Ogston, W. D. (1967). A segmentation of behavior. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 5, 221–235.
Condon, W. S., & Sander, L. W. (1974). Neonate movement is synchronized with adult speech: Interactional participation and language acquisition. Science, 183(4120), 99–101.
Constantino, J. N., & Gruber, C. P. (2012). Social Responsiveness Scale (2nd ed.). Torrance, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Cook, J. (2016). From movement kinematics to social cognition: The case of autism. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0372.
de Marchena, A., & Miller, J. (2017). “Frank” presentations as a novel research construct and element of diagnostic decision-making in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 10(4), 653–662. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1706.
Delaherche, E., Chetouani, M., Mahdhaoui, A., Saint-Georges, C., Viaux, S., & Cohen, D. (2012). Interpersonal synchrony: A survey of evaluation methods across disciplines. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, 3(3), 349–365. https://doi.org/10.1109/T-AFFC.2012.12.
Dowd, A. M., Rinehart, N. J., & McGinley, J. (2010). Motor function in children with autism: Why is this relevant to psychologists? Clinical Psychologist, 14(3), 90–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/13284207.2010.525532.
Eigsti, I.-M. (2013). A review of embodiment in autism spectrum disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00224.
Feldman, R. (2007). Parent-infant synchrony and the construction of shared timing: Physiological precursors, developmental outcomes, and risk conditions. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 48(3–4), 329–354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01701.x.
Feldstein, S., Konstantareas, M., Oxman, J., & Webster, C. D. (1982). The chronography of interactions with autistic speakers: An initial report. Journal of Communication Disorders, 15(6), 451–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9924(82)90018-1.
Fitzpatrick, P., Diorio, R., Richardson, M. J., & Schmidt, R. C. (2013). Dynamical methods for evaluating the time-dependent unfolding of social coordination in children with autism. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 7, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00021.
Fitzpatrick, P., Frazier, J. A., Cochran, D. M., Mitchell, T., Coleman, C., & Schmidt, R. C. (2016). Impairments of social motor synchrony evident in autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01323.
Fitzpatrick, P., Frazier, J. A., Cochran, D., Mitchell, T., Coleman, C., & Schmidt, R. C. (2018). Relationship between theory of mind, emotion recognition, and social synchrony in adolescents with and without autism. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1337. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01337.
Fitzpatrick, P., Romero, V., Amaral, J. L., Duncan, A., Barnard, H., Richardson, M. J., et al. (2017a). Evaluating the importance of social motor synchronization and motor skill for understanding autism. Autism Research, 10, 1687–1699. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1808.
Fitzpatrick, P., Romero, V., Amaral, J. L., Duncan, A., Barnard, H., Richardson, M. J., et al. (2017b). Social motor synchronization: Insights for understanding social behavior in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47, 2092–2107. https://doi.org/10.1007//s10803-017-3124-2.
Fournier, K. A., Hass, C. J., Naik, S. K., Lodha, N., & Cauraugh, J. H. (2010). Motor coordination in autism spectrum disorders: A synthesis and meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(10), 1227–1240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0981-3.
García-Pérez, R. M., Lee, A., & Hobson, R. P. (2007). On intersubjective engagement in autism: A controlled study of nonverbal aspects of conversation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(7), 1310–1322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0276-x.
Garrod, S., & Pickering, M. J. (2004). Why is conversation so easy? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(1), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.016.
Gresham, F. M., & Elliot, S. N. (2008). Social skills improvement system—Rating scales. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson.
Harrist, A. W., & Waugh, R. M. (2002). Dyadic synchrony: Its structure and function in children’s development. Developmental Review, 22(4), 555–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-2297(02)00500-2.
Hove, M. J., & Risen, J. L. (2009). It’s all in the timing: Interpersonal synchrony increases affiliation. Social Cognition, 27(6), 949–960. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2009.27.6.949.
Hus, V., & Lord, C. (2014). The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Module 4: Revised algorithm and standardized severity scores. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(8), 1996–2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2080-3.
Jaffe, J., Beebe, B., Feldstein, S., Crown, C. L., & Jasnow, M. D. (2001). Rhythms of dialogue in infancy: Coordinated timing in development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 66(2), i–viii, 1–132.
Kimura, M., & Daibo, I. (2006). Interactional synchrony in conversations about emotional episodes: A measurement by the “between participants pseudosynchrony experimental paradigm”. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 30, 115–126.
Lakin, J. L., Jefferis, V. E., Cheng, C. M., & Chartrand, T. L. (2003). The chameleon effect as social glue: Evidence for the evolutionary significance of nonconscious mimicry. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 27(3), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025389814290.
Landa, R. J., Holman, K. C., O’Neill, A. H., & Stuart, E. A. (2011). Intervention targeting development of socially synchronous engagement in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 52(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02288.x.
Latif, N., Barbosa, A. V., Vatiokiotis-Bateson, E., Castelhano, M. S., & Munhall, K. G. (2014). Movement coordination during conversation. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113316.
Lindsey, E. W., Colwell, M. J., Frabutt, J. M., Chambers, J. C., & MacKinnon-Lewis, C. (2008). Mother-child dyadic synchrony in European American and African American families during early adolescence: Relations with self-esteem and prosocial behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54(3), 289–315.
Lord, C., Rutter, M. L., DiLavore, P. S., Risi, S., Gotham, K., & Bishop, S. L. (2012). Autism diagnostic observation schedule (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Marsh, K. L., Isenhower, R. W., Richardson, M. J., Helt, M., Verbalis, A. D., Schmidt, R. C., et al. (2013). Autism and social disconnection in interpersonal rocking. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00004.
McIntosh, D. (2006). Spontaneous facial mimicry, liking and emotional contagion. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 37(1), 31–42.
Melby, J. N., & Conger, R. D. (2001). The Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales: Instrument summary. Family observational coding systems: Resources for systemic research (pp. 33–58). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Miles, L., Nind, L., Henderson, Z., & Macrae, C. N. (2010). Moving memories: Behavioral synchrony and memory for self and others. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 457–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.006.
Northrup, J. B., & Iverson, J. M. (2015). Vocal coordination during early parent–infant interactions predicts language outcome in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Infancy: The Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies, 20(5), 523–547.
Ramseyer, F., & Tschacher, W. (2011). Nonverbal synchrony in psychotherapy: Coordinated body movement reflects relationship quality and outcome. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(3), 284–295. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023419.
Romero, V., Fitzpatrick, P., Roulier, S., Duncan, A., Richardson, M. J., & Schmidt, R. C. (2018). Evidence of embodied social competence during conversation in high functioning children with autism spectrum disorder. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193906.
Rutter, M. L., Bailey, A., & Lord, C. (2003a). Social Communication Questionnaire. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Rutter, M. L., Le Couteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003b). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Schmidt, R. C., & Fitzpatrick, P. (2016). The origin of the ideas of interpersonal synchrony and synergies. In P. Passos, K. Davis, & J. Y. Chow (Eds.), Interpersonal coordination and performance in social systems (pp. 17–31). New York, NY: Routledge.
Siller, M., & Sigman, M. (2002). The behaviors of parents of children with autism predict the subsequent development of their children’s communication. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32(2), 77–89.
Sonnby-Borgström, M., Jönsson, P., & Svensson, O. (2003). Emotional empathy as related to mimicry reactions at different levels of information processing. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 27(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023608506243.
Stel, M., & Vonk, R. (2010). Mimicry in social interaction: Benefits for mimickers, mimickees, and their interaction. British Journal of Psychology, 101(2), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712609X465424.
van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Kawakami, K., & van Knippenberg, A. (2004). Mimicry and prosocial behavior. Psychological Science, 15(1), 71–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01501012.x.
Warlaumont, A. S., Richards, J. A., Gilkerson, J., & Oller, D. K. (2014). A social feedback loop for speech development and its reduction in autism. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1314–1324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614531023.
Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (4th ed.). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
Wechsler, D. (2011). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
West, K. L. (2018). Infant motor development in autism spectrum disorder: A synthesis and meta-analysis. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13086.
Wiltermuth, S. S., & Heath, C. (2009). Synchrony and cooperation. Psychological Science, 20(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02253.x.
Winkielman, P., McIntosh, D. N., & Oberman, L. (2009). Embodied and disembodied emotion processing: Learning from and about typical and autistic individuals. Emotion Review, 1(2), 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073908100442.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01 DC009439). We would like to thank the families that participated. We would also like to thank Paul Allen, Laura Soskey Cubit, Jessica Keith, Kim Schauder, and our undergraduate research assistants for their many invaluable contributions, and Ashley de Marchena and Heather Nuske for feedback on manuscript drafts.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zampella, C.J., Csumitta, K.D., Simon, E. et al. Interactional Synchrony and Its Association with Social and Communication Ability in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 3195–3206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04412-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04412-8