scholarly journals Entrainment, theory of mind, and prosociality in child musicians

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 205920431775315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Ilari ◽  
Cara Fesjian ◽  
Assal Habibi

In this study, we tracked the development of rhythmic entrainment, prosociality, and theory of mind skills in children attending music and sports programs and in a control group over the course of three years. Forty-five children (mean age at onset = 81 months) drummed in two contextual conditions – alone and social – completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and prosocial tasks (helping and sharing). All children improved in their ability to entrain to external rhythms over time, with the music group outperforming controls in the entrainment-social condition. Developmental effects were found for theory of mind, but no significant group differences. Although there were no significant group differences for prosociality, following three years of music education, entrainment scores in the alone condition were positively correlated with the number of stickers that children in the music group gave to friends. Results are discussed in light of the nature of collective music learning through ensemble participation and its role in the development of social-cognitive and prosocial skills in childhood.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1023-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes C. Michaelian ◽  
Loren Mowszowski ◽  
Adam J. Guastella ◽  
Julie D. Henry ◽  
Shantel Duffy ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectives:Older adults presenting with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have a higher risk of developing dementia and also demonstrate impairments in social cognition. This study sought to establish whether in people with MCI, poorer theory of mind (ToM) was associated with volumetric changes in the amygdala and hippocampus, as well as early changes in behaviour.Methods:One hundred and fourteen people with MCI and fifty-two older adult controls completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), while close informants (e.g., spouse/family member/friend/carer) described any current behavioural changes using the Revised Cambridge Behavioural Inventory (CBI-R). A subsample of participants completed structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Results:The MCI group showed poorer performance on all neuropsychological tests administered, and moderate reductions on the RMET compared to the control group (d = .44), with greater reduction observed in those with amnestic compared to non-amnestic MCI (p = .03). While a robust correlation was identified between poorer RMET performance and smaller hippocampal volume in the control group (ρ = .53, p = .01), this relationship was not apparent in the MCI group (ρ = .21, p = .11). In the MCI group, poorer RMET performance was associated with poorer everyday skills (ρ = −.26, p = .01) assessed by the CBI-R.Conclusions:Our findings cross-validate previous reports that social cognitive deficits in ToM are a feature of MCI and also suggest that disruptions to broader neural networks are likely to be implicated. Furthermore, ToM deficits in MCI are associated with a decline in everyday skills such as writing or paying bills.


2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
pp. 939-959
Author(s):  
Leah R. Enders ◽  
Gary L. Boykin ◽  
Valerie J. Rice

While marksmanship is a critical skill for military personnel, some service members experience difficulty in attaining and maintaining marksmanship qualifications. Temporal training may improve marksmanship performance, since rhythm and timing are critical for coordinated movement. In this study, we examined the effect of neurocognitive temporal training (NTT) on military personnel’s marksmanship performance. We randomly assigned 41 active duty U.S. Army service members with prior marksmanship training into an NTT group that received 12 NTT training sessions ( N = 18) and a Control group ( N = 23) that received no NTT training. We measured marksmanship at baseline (pretest) and following either NTT (posttest) or, for the Control group, a comparable time period. We quantified marksmanship during 2 tasks of firing 5 self-paced shots at stationary 175 m and 300 m targets (Task 1) and firing at 50 moving and stationary targets of varying distances (Task 2). We recorded three measures of accuracy and three measures of precision (including Total Path Length, a unique measure quantifying shot-to-shot variability) for the first task, and we recorded one accuracy measure for the second task. To determine group differences for pretest versus posttest, we used multivariate analysis of variances for Task 1 and a mixed-model analysis of variance for Task 2. Results revealed significantly reduced variability and improved precision when firing at the 175 m target for the NTT group compared with the Control group ( p < .05), but there were no significant group differences on other measures. While these results suggest the utility of neurocognitive timing and rhythm training for marksmanship precision, additional research is needed and should include varied training regimens, comparisons of expert versus novice shooters, additional outcome measures, and a larger participant sample.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy L. Van Raalte ◽  
Allen E. Cornelius ◽  
Elizabeth M. Mullin ◽  
Britton W. Brewer ◽  
Erika D. Van Dyke ◽  
...  

A series of studies was conducted by Senay et al. in 2010 to replicate and extend research indicating that self-posed questions have performance benefits. Studies 1–3 compared the effects of the self-posed interrogative question (“Will I?”) to declarative (“I will”) and control self-talk, and found no significant group differences in motivation, perceived exertion, or performance. In Studies 4–5, interrogative, declarative, and control self-talk primes were compared, and no outcome differences were found. In Study 6, the effects of self-talk on motivation, perceived exertion, and physical performance were assessed. The self-talk groups performed better and were more motivated than the control group, but declarative and interrogative groups did not differ from each other. Finally, meta-analyses of the six studies indicated no significant differences among conditions. These results highlight the value of replication and suggest that factors other than grammatical form of self-posed questions may drive the demonstrated relationships between self-talk and performance.


1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1367-1377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Dailey Hall ◽  
Ofer Amir ◽  
Ehud Yairi

Both clinical and theoretical interest in stuttering as a disorder of speech motor control has led to numerous investigations of speaking rate in people who stutter. The majority of these studies, however, has been conducted with adult and school-age groups. Most studies of preschoolers have included older children. Despite the ongoing theoretical and clinical focus on speaking rate in young children who stutter and their parents, no longitudinal or cross-sectional studies have been conducted to answer questions about the possible developmental link between stuttering and the rate of speech, or about differences in rate development between preschool children who stutter and normally fluent children. This investigation compared changes in articulatory rate over a period of 2 years in subgroups of preschool-age children who stutter and normally fluent children. Within the group of stuttering children, comparisons also were made between those who exhibited persistent stuttering and those who eventually recovered without intervention. Furthermore, the study compared two metrics of articulatory rate. Spontaneous speech samples, collected longitudinally over a 2-year period, were analyzed acoustically to determine speaking rate measured in number of syllables and phones per second. Results indicated no differences among the 3 groups when articulation rate was measured in syllables per second. Using the phones per second measure, however, significant group differences were found when comparing the control group to the recovered and persistent groups.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (15) ◽  
pp. 3147-3157 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bechi ◽  
M. Bosia ◽  
M. Spangaro ◽  
M. Buonocore ◽  
F. Cocchi ◽  
...  

BackgroundNeurocognitive and social cognitive impairments represent important treatment targets in schizophrenia, as they are significant predictors of functional outcome. Different rehabilitative interventions have recently been developed, addressing both cognitive and psychosocial domains. Although promising, results are still heterogeneous and predictors of treatment outcome are not yet identified. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of two newly developed social cognitive interventions, respectively based on the use of videotaped material and comic strips, combined with domain-specific Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT). We also analysed possible predictors of training outcome, including basal neurocognitive performance, the degree of cognitive improvement after CRT and psychopathological variables.MethodSeventy-five patients with schizophrenia treated with CRT, were randomly assigned to: social cognitive training (SCT) group, Theory of Mind Intervention (ToMI) group, and active control group (ACG).ResultsANOVAs showed that SCT and ToMI groups improved significantly in ToM measures, whereas the ACG did not. We reported no influences of neuropsychological measures and improvement after CRT on changes in ToM. Both paranoid and non-paranoid subjects improved significantly after ToMI and SCT, without differences between groups, despite the better performance in basal ToM found among paranoid patients. In the ACG only non-paranoid patients showed an improvement in non-verbal ToM.ConclusionResults showed that both ToMI and SCT are effective in improving ToM in schizophrenia with no influence of neuropsychological domains. Our data also suggest that paranoid symptoms may discriminate between different types of ToM difficulties in schizophrenia.


2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeev N. Kain ◽  
Alison A. Caldwell-Andrews ◽  
Linda C. Mayes ◽  
Shu-Ming Wang ◽  
Dawn M. Krivutza ◽  
...  

Background The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether parental presence during induction of anesthesia (PPIA) is associated with parental physiologic and behavioral manifestations of stress. Methods Children and their parents (N = 80) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) PPIA; (2) PPIA plus 0.5 mg/kg oral midazolam; and (3) control (no PPIA or midazolam). The effect of the group assignment on parental heart rate (HR), parental blood pressure, and parental skin conductance level (SCL) were assessed. Both parental HR and parental SCL were monitored continually. Anxiety of the parent and child was also assessed. Results Parental HR increased from baseline until the induction of anesthesia (P = 0.001). A group-by-time effect ( P= 0.005) was also found. That is, throughout the induction period there were several time points at which parents in the two PPIA groups had a significantly higher HR than did parents in the control group (P &lt; 0.05). Similarly, SCL was found to increase in all parents from baseline until induction of anesthesia (P = 0.001). Significant group differences in SCL changes over time were found as well (P = 0.009). State anxiety and blood pressure following induction of anesthesia did not differ significantly between groups ( P= nonsignificant). Examination of parental Holter data revealed no rhythm abnormalities and no electrocardiogram changes indicating ischemia. Conclusions The authors found that PPIA is associated with increased parental HR and SCL. However, no increased incidence of electrocardiogram abnormalities were found in parents present during induction of anesthesia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Foley ◽  
Claire Lancaster ◽  
Elena Poznyak ◽  
Olga Borejko ◽  
Elaine Niven ◽  
...  

Objective. Several studies have reported that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) perform poorly on tests of ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM), suggesting impairment in the ability to understand and infer other people’s thoughts and feelings. However, few studies have sought to separate the processes involved in social reasoning from those involved in managing the inhibitory demands on these tests. In this study, we investigated the contribution of inhibition to ToM performance in PD. Methods. 18 PD patients and 22 age-matched healthy controls performed a ToM test that separates the ability to infer someone else’s perspective from the ability to inhibit one’s own. Participants also completed a battery of standard measures of social and executive functioning, including measures of inhibition. Results. The PD patients performed worse on the ToM test only when the inhibitory demands were high. When the level of inhibition required was reduced, there were no significant group differences. Furthermore, executive impairments in PD patients were limited to measures of inhibition, with disadvantages associated with poorer ToM performance in this group. Conclusions. This study provides convincing evidence that the apparent impairment observed on ToM tests in PD is explained by deficits in inhibition.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1607-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mier ◽  
C. Sauer ◽  
S. Lis ◽  
C. Esslinger ◽  
J. Wilhelm ◽  
...  

BackgroundSchizophrenia out-patients have deficits in affective theory of mind (ToM) but also on more basal levels of social cognition, such as the processing of neutral and emotional expressions. These deficits are associated with changes in brain activation in the amygdala and the superior temporal sulcus (STS). However, until now there have been no studies that examined these different levels of social cognition and their neurobiological underpinnings in patients within one design.MethodSixteen medicated schizophrenia out-patients and 16 matched healthy controls were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a social cognition task that allows the investigation of affective ToM (aToM), emotion recognition and the processing of neutral facial expressions.ResultsPatients showed a deficit in emotion recognition and a more prominent deficit in aToM. The performance in aToM and in emotion recognition was correlated in the control group but not in the schizophrenia group. Region-of-interest analysis of functional brain imaging data revealed no difference between groups during aToM, but a hyperactivation in the schizophrenia group in the left amygdala and right STS during emotion recognition and the processing of neutral facial expressions.ConclusionsThe results indicate that schizophrenia out-patients have deficits at several levels of social cognition and provide the first evidence that deficits on higher-order social cognitive processes in schizophrenia may be traced back to an aberrant processing of faces per se.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (15) ◽  
pp. 2610-2621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Cardi ◽  
Gaia Albano ◽  
Suman Ambwani ◽  
Li Cao ◽  
Ross D. Crosby ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundOutpatient interventions for adult anorexia nervosa typically have a modest impact on weight and eating disorder symptomatology. This study examined whether adding a brief online intervention focused on enhancing motivation to change and the development of a recovery identity (RecoveryMANTRA) would improve outcomes in adults with anorexia nervosa.MethodsParticipants with anorexia nervosa (n = 187) were recruited from 22 eating disorder outpatient services throughout the UK. They were randomised to receiving RecoveryMANTRA in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 99; experimental group) or TAU only (n = 88; control group). Outcomes were measured at end-of-intervention (6 weeks), 6 and 12 months.ResultsAdherence rates to RecoveryMANTRA were 83% for the online guidance sessions and 77% for the use of self-help materials (workbook and/or short video clips). Group differences in body mass index at 6 weeks (primary outcome) were not significant. Group differences in eating disorder symptoms, psychological wellbeing and work and social adjustment (at 6 weeks and at follow-up) were not significant, except for a trend-level greater reduction in anxiety at 6 weeks in the RecoveryMANTRA group (p = 0.06). However, the RecoveryMANTRA group had significantly higher levels of confidence in own ability to change (p = 0.02) and alliance with the therapist at the outpatient service (p = 0.005) compared to the control group at 6 weeks.ConclusionsAugmenting outpatient treatment for adult anorexia nervosa with a focus on recovery and motivation produced short-term reductions in anxiety and increased confidence to change and therapeutic alliance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joneen Lowman ◽  
Laura T. Stone ◽  
Jing Guo

Interactive book reading (IBR) has proven effective for increasing children’s lexicons with most of the results based on students’ learning of nouns. Little is known about the application of IBR to instructional verbs (i.e., words used during the instruction of academic content). To address this gap, 122 prekindergarten children were recruited from seven elementary schools. Each school was randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. Children in the intervention group were taught 12 instructional verbs across a 3-week period using interactive book-reading strategies. Children assigned to the control group only received implicit exposure to instructional verbs during teacher talk. Children in the book-reading group knew significantly more words on a receptive picture identification task than children in the control group both at posttesting and at follow-up testing in the fall. No significant group differences were noted at spring testing.


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