Browsing by Author "Ginman, Karolina"

Purpose: The perception and interpretation of how other people move their body is an important component of adaptive social interaction. Children are known to distinguish between body motion (biological motion) and non-biological motion at an early age, but their ability to interpret body motion has received little scientific attention. Music and dance-related movement activities have been found to positively influence social interaction in children. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of three classroom-integrated interventions (movement MO, music MU, movement-music MOMU) on social cognition in children. Since two of the interventions were movement-based, a test measuring the ability to recognise social interaction based on body motion was used in the current study. Based on previous research findings, the hypothesis was that children who received any of the interventions would improve more than a control group (no intervention) in sensitivity to social interaction. In addition, the children’s performance was compared with that of adults’. Methods: Video displays of two point-light human figures either interacting with each other or moving separately were used to measure the ability to recognise social interaction based on body motion. The test included 94 displays (47 interaction situations and 47 no interaction situations). Children aged 10–11 (3 intervention groups and 1 control group, n = 59) completed the test twice, pre and post intervention. In addition, nine adults (n = 9) completed the test. The theory of signal detection was utilised in the analysis of performance, with discriminability d′ reflecting sensitivity to social interaction and criterion c reflecting response bias. Results: Adults performed better than children at baseline. Children who received any of the interventions improved significantly in their ability to recognise social interaction post intervention, whereas the difference between the pre and post measurement did not reach statistical significance in the control group. Conclusions: Children were able to recognise social interaction based on body motion. Children who received a movement, music or movement-music intervention improved in the test, suggesting that all interventions had a positive impact on the ability to recognise social interaction based on body motion. This suggests that movement and music interventions conducted by elementary school teachers may support children’s ability to interpret body motion, an important aspect of social interaction.