scholarly journals Children’s vicarious ratings of social touch are tuned to the velocity but not the location of a caress

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256303
Author(s):  
Connor J. Haggarty ◽  
Paula D. Trotter ◽  
Francis McGlone ◽  
Susannah C. Walker

Affective sharing is a bottom-up process involving automatic processing of sensory inputs that facilitate vicarious experience of another’s emotional state. It is grounded directly in the prior experiences of the perceiver. In adults, vicarious ratings of affective touch match the known velocity tuning and hypothesised anatomical distribution of C-tactile afferents (CT), a subclass of C-fibre which respond preferentially to low force/velocity stroking touch, typically perceived as pleasant. Given the centrality of touch to early nurturing interactions, here we examined whether primary school aged children’s vicarious ratings of affective touch show the same anatomical and velocity specific patterns reported in adults. Forty-four children aged between 8 and 11 (mean age 9, 24 male) rated a sequence of video clips depicting one individual being touched by another on 5 different upper-body sites (palm, dorsal forearm, ventral forearm, upper-arm and back) at 3 different velocities (static, CT optimal, slow stroking and non-CT optimal, fast stroking). Immediately after viewing each clip, participants were asked to rate how pleasant they perceived the touch to be. While children rated the CT optimal velocity significantly higher than static or non-CT optimal touch, unlike adults their ratings did not vary across skin sites. This difference may reflect the fact children’s ratings are grounded in bottom-up affective resonance while adults also draw on top-down cognitive evaluation of the broader social context when rating the stimuli.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor Haggarty ◽  
Paula Trotter ◽  
Francis McGlone ◽  
Susannah Walker

Affective sharing is a bottom-up process involving automatic processing of sensory inputs that facilitate vicarious experience of another’s emotional state. It is grounded directly in the prior experiences of the perceiver. In adults, vicarious ratings of affective touch match the known velocity tuning and hypothesized anatomical distribution of C-tactile afferents (CT), a subclass of C-fiber which respond preferentially to low force/velocity stroking touch, typically perceived as pleasant. Given the centrality of touch to early nurturing interactions, here we examined whether primary school aged children’s vicarious ratings of affective touch show the same anatomical and velocity specific patterns reported in adults. Forty-four children aged between 8 and 11 (mean age 9, 24 male) rated a sequence of video clips depicting one individual being touched by another on 5 different upper-body sites (palm, dorsal forearm, ventral forearm, upper-arm and back) at 3 different velocities (static, CT optimal, slow stroking and non-CT optimal, fast stroking). Immediately after viewing each clip, participants were asked to rate how pleasant they perceived the touch to be. While children rated the CT optimal velocity significantly higher than static or non-CT optimal touch, unlike adults their ratings did not vary across skin sites. This difference may reflect the fact children’s ratings are grounded in bottom-up affective resonance while adults also draw on top-down cognitive evaluation of the broader social context when rating the stimuli.


Author(s):  
David L. Lee ◽  
Jack T. Dennerlein ◽  
Nancy A. Baker

The purpose of this study was to test the inter-rater reliability of an observational instrument, the Mouse-Personal Computer Style instrument (M-PeCS), which assesses the stereotypical postures and movements of the upper body and upper extremity associated with computer mouse use. Two trained raters independently rated the video clips of 10 computer users completing three mouse tasks (pointing, steering, and dragging) for a total of 30 video clips to determine the inter-rater reliability. All but two items on the M-PeCS had good to excellent reliability (ICC=0.75 to 1.00). These results suggest that most items on the M-PeCS can be used to reliably document computer mouse use style between trained raters. Potential applications of this study include identifying and quantifying the exposure to postural risk factors that may contribute to hand and forearm musculoskeletal pain associated with intensive computer mouse use.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amador García-Ramos ◽  
Slobodan Jaric ◽  
Paulino Padial ◽  
Belén Feriche

This study aimed to (1) evaluate the linearity of the force–velocity relationship, as well as the reliability of maximum force (F0), maximum velocity (V0), slope (a), and maximum power (P0); (2) compare these parameters between the traditional and ballistic bench press (BP); and (3) determine the correlation of F0 with the directly measured BP 1-repetition maximum (1RM). Thirty-two men randomly performed 2 sessions of traditional BP and 2 sessions of ballistic BP during 2 consecutive weeks. Both the maximum and mean values of force and velocity were recorded when loaded by 20–70% of 1RM. All force–velocity relationships were strongly linear (r > .99). While F0 and P0 were highly reliable (ICC: 0.91–0.96, CV: 3.8–5.1%), lower reliability was observed for V0 and a (ICC: 0.49–0.81, CV: 6.6–11.8%). Trivial differences between exercises were found for F0 (ES: < 0.2), however the a was higher for the traditional BP (ES: 0.68–0.94), and V0 (ES: 1.04–1.48) and P0 (ES: 0.65–0.72) for the ballistic BP. The F0 strongly correlated with BP 1RM (r: 0.915–0.938). The force–velocity relationship is useful to assess the upper body maximal capabilities to generate force, velocity, and power.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (14) ◽  
pp. 1083-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Padulo ◽  
Gian Migliaccio ◽  
Luca Ardigò ◽  
Bruno Leban ◽  
Marco Cosso ◽  
...  

AbstractThe aim was to compare lower-limb power, force, and velocity capabilities between squat and leg press movements. Ten healthy sportsmen performed ballistic lower-limb push-offs against 5-to-12 different loads during both the squat and leg press. Individual linear force-velocity and polynomial power-velocity relationships were determined for both movements from push-off mean force and velocity measured continuously with a pressure sensor and linear encoder. Maximal power output, theoretical maximal force and velocity, force-velocity profile and optimal velocity were computed. During the squat, maximal power output (17.7±3.59 vs. 10.9±1.39 W·kg−1), theoretical maximal velocity (1.66±0.29 vs. 0.88±0.18 m·s−1), optimal velocity (0.839±0.144 vs. 0.465±0.107 m·s−1), and force-velocity profile (−27.2±8.5 vs. −64.3±29.5 N·s·m−1·kg−1) values were significantly higher than during the leg press (p=0.000, effect size=1.72–3.23), whereas theoretical maximal force values (43.1±8.6 vs. 51.9±14.0 N·kg−1, p=0.034, effect size=0.75) were significantly lower. The mechanical capabilities of the lower-limb extensors were different in the squat compared with the leg press with higher maximal power due to much higher velocity capabilities (e.g. ability to produce force at high velocities) even if moderately lower maximal force qualities.


Author(s):  
Milos R. Petrovic ◽  
Amador García-Ramos ◽  
Danica N. Janicijevic ◽  
Alejandro Pérez-Castilla ◽  
Olivera M. Knezevic ◽  
...  

Purpose: To test whether the force–velocity (F–V) relationship obtained during a specific single-stroke kayak test (SSKT) and during nonspecific traditional resistance-training exercises (bench press and prone bench pull) could discriminate between 200-m specialists and longer-distance (500- and 1000-m) specialists in canoe sprint. Methods: A total of 21 experienced male kayakers (seven 200-m specialists and 14 longer-distance specialists) participated in this study. After a familiarization session, kayakers came to the laboratory on 2 occasions separated by 48 to 96 hours. In a randomized order, kayakers performed the SSKT in one session and the bench press and bench pull tests in another session. Force and velocity outputs were recorded against 5 loads in each exercise to determine the F–V relationship and related parameters (maximum force, maximum velocity, F–V slope, and maximum power). Results: The individual F–V relationships were highly linear for the SSKT (r = .990 [.908, .998]), bench press (r = .993 [.974, .999]), and prone bench pull (r = .998 [.992, 1.000]). The F–V relationship parameters (maximum force, maximum velocity, and maximum power) were significantly higher for 200-m specialists compared with longer-distance specialists (all Ps ≤ .047) with large effect sizes (≥0.94) revealing important practical differences. However, no significant differences were observed between 200-m specialists and longer-distance specialists in the F–V slope (P ≥ .477). Conclusions: The F–V relationship assessed during both specific (SSKT) and nonspecific upper-body tasks (bench press and bench pull) may distinguish between kayakers specialized in different distances.


2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amador García-Ramos ◽  
Alejandro Torrejón ◽  
Belén Feriche ◽  
Antonio J. Morales-Artacho ◽  
Alejandro Pérez-Castilla ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (03) ◽  
pp. 133-141
Author(s):  
Ghaith Aloui ◽  
Souhail Hermassi ◽  
Mehrez Hammami ◽  
Nawel Gaamouri ◽  
El Ghali Bouhafs ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Team handball is an intense sport with special requirements on technical and tactical skills as well as physical performance. The ability of handball players to make repeated powerful muscular contractions in pushing and throwing the ball is crucial to success. Objective This study investigated the effects of elastic band training on upper body peak power output, ball throwing velocity, and local muscle volume of junior handball players. Materials and Methods Thirty handball players (a single national-level Tunisian team) were randomly assigned to a control group (CG; n = 15) and an experimental group (EG; n = 15). Pre- and post-interventional measurements included force-velocity tests, one-repetition maximum (1RM) bench press and pull-over strength, ball throwing velocity in three types of throw (jumping shot, 3-step running throw, and standing throw), and anthropometric estimates of limb volumes. The EG additionally performed an elastic band training programme twice a week for 8 weeks immediately before engaging in regular handball training. The control group underwent no additional elastic band training. Results The EG demonstrated greater improvements in absolute and relative peak power (p < 0.001; 49.3 ± 22.9 % and 47.9 ± 24.6 %, respectively), 1RM strength (p < 0.001; 25.3 ± 2.2 % and 44.1 ± 9.0 % for 1RM bench press and pull over, respectively), and throwing velocity in all three types of ball throws (p < 0.001; 25.1–26.1 %), compared to the CG (3.9–4.4 %). Limb volumes increased significantly (p = 0.001, 8.0 ± 7.5 %) in the EG, with no significant change (p = 0.175, 2.6 ± 7.0 %) in the CG. Conclusions We conclude that additional elastic band training performed twice a week for 8 weeks improves measures relevant to game performance, particularly strength, power, and ball throwing velocity.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haemy Lee Masson ◽  
Hans Op de Beeck

AbstractSocio-affective touch communication conveys a vast amount of information about emotions and intentions in social contexts. In spite of the complexity of the socio-affective touch expressions we use daily, previous studies addressed only a few aspects of social touch mainly focusing on hedonics, such as stroking, leaving a wide range of social touch behaviour unexplored. To overcome this limit, we present the Socio-Affective Touch Expression Database (SATED), which includes a large range of dynamic interpersonal socio-affective touch events varying in valence and arousal. The original database contained 26 different social touch expressions each performed by three actor pairs. To validate each touch expression, we conducted two behavioural experiments investigating perceived naturalness and affective values. Based on the rated naturalness, 13 socio-affective touch expressions along with 12 corresponding non-social touch events were selected as a complete set, achieving 75 video clips in total. Moreover, we quantified motion energy for each touch expression to investigate its intrinsic correlations with perceived affective values and its similarity among actor-and action-pairs. As a result, the touch expression database is not only systematically defined and well-controlled, but also spontaneous and natural, while eliciting clear affective responses. This database will allow a fine-grained investigation of complex interpersonal socio-affective touch in the realm of social psychology and neuroscience along with potential application areas in affective computing and neighbouring fields.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (20) ◽  
pp. 2396-2402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danica Janicijevic ◽  
Amador García-Ramos ◽  
Olivera M. Knezevic ◽  
Dragan M. Mirkov

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