Motor Synchrony, Social Learning and Closeness in Group Play Settings

Playful activities provide critical opportunities for rhythmic interactions, which may affect social and cognitive development in early childhood. Prior research suggests that motor synchrony promotes closeness and prosocial behaviour, but few studies have examined its role in social learning. This study investigated whether motor synchrony, through a clapping game, enhances preschoolers' closeness with others, imitation, over-imitation, and prosociality. We hypothesized that children would feel closer, imitate more, and share more with a partner who moved in synchrony compared to one who moved asynchronously. In a group setting, motor synchrony and asynchrony were experimentally induced between the child and two experimenters. Bayesian analyses revealed no credible evidence for differences in affiliation, imitation, over-imitation, or prosocial behaviour between experimenters (BF10=0.045-0.216). A manipulation check indicated low motor synchrony scores, suggesting the intended synchrony may not have been fully achieved, potentially influencing the outcomes. These findings highlight the challenges of inducing motor synchrony in playful group contexts and raise questions about the conditions necessary for synchrony to impact social learning in young children.