Development of interpersonal coordination between peers during a drumming task.

During social interaction, the behavior of interacting partners becomes coordinated. Although interpersonal coordination is well-studied in adults, relatively little is known about its development. In this project we explored how 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children spontaneously coordinated their drumming with a peer. Results showed that all children adapted their drumming to their partner's drumming by starting and stopping their drumming in a coordinated fashion, but only 4-year-olds adapted the rhythmic structure of their drumming to their partner's drumming. In all age groups, children showed similarly stable drumming. Typically, it was 1 of the 2 children who initiated drumming throughout the session. The results of this study offer new insights into the development of interpersonal coordination abilities in early childhood. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).