Name:Miguel, Martin

School/Affiliation:Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Canada

Co-Authors:Jonathan Cannon, Laurel Trainor

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Abstract:

Improvised partner dancing affords meaningful connections with other people and has been shown to provide enhanced physical fitness and coordination, memory and self-confidence. This discipline requires nonverbal communication about dance intentions. This skill is often learned by trial and error. To achieve this, two strategies could be employed: repeatedly dancing with the same partner or training with multiple partners. The first strategy allows working on repeated communication errors, while the second allows exploring diverse ways in which communication can occur and therefore develop more generalizable techniques.
In our ongoing study, we are comparing how these strategies help non-dancers learn to follow nonverbal dance instructions. Non-dancers are paired with experienced confederate dance partners. On each trial, couples perform a step sequence involving weight changes, walking forward and walking backwards. Only confederates are provided with the step sequence, forcing the participants to follow their partner’s dance instructions. We are measuring the movement synchrony of each couple using motion capture.
Learning strategies will be compared in a between-subjects design. During training, followers will either practice with only one or with multiple partners. During the post-test, followers will be tested with their original pre-test partner as well as with new partners, to compare how training strategies work in specialization and generalization. Pilot data (n=2 and n=3 for single and multiple partners, respectively) show that in general synchronization improves with training, and that switching partners yields greater improvement when tested both with original and new partners.