PhD Scientific Days 2020

Mental Sciences II. Posters

Simultaneous Investigation of Behavioral Synchronization of Two Individuals during Social Interaction

Előadó neve

Brigitta, Kakuszi, MSc

Előadó munkahelye

Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest

Előadó telefonszáma

0620/6632655

Előadó e-mail címe

kakuszi.brigitta@med.semmelweis-univ.hu

Az előadás címe

Simultaneous Investigation of Behavioral Synchronization of Two Individuals during Social Interaction

Szerző(k) neve és munkahelye

Hasan Cagin Lenk Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine
István Bitter Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest
Pál Czobor Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest

Szekció

Mental Sciences II. Posters

Language of the presentation

Hungarian

Section, first choice

Mental Sciences

Section, second choice

Neurosciences

Összefoglaló szövege

Introduction: Interpersonally synchronized behaviors play a fundamental role in social interactions. An important component for the development of behavioral synchronization is the “Theory of Mind”, i.e., mentalization ability of the people who are involved in the interaction. The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (RMET) test is widely used to measure mentalization, including social cognition and empathy. However, previous research using the RMET examined individuals in isolation, without being involved in actual social interaction with another person. Thus, it is not known whether the performance measured by the RMET test correlates with the actual behavioral synchronization processes.
Aims: To investigate the relationship between the synchronous behavior of two interacting individuals during a social interaction (joint action) task and the “Theory of Mind” performance, as measured by the RMET test.
Method: 48 healthy subjects (24 pairs) were included in the study. We examined shared neural mechanisms during cooperation (joint action) in an EEG hyperscanning experiment, and investigated the behavioral data for the purpose of this project. We used the images of the International Affective Picture System as a stimuli, using the Presentation software. We applied the RMET test to describe empathy/social cognition. Participants' synchronous behavior was characterized by the synchronization of responses to stimuli in terms of reaction times (indexed by the correlation of the pairs of responses by the two participants). In order to characterize the performance with respect to social cognition and empathy, we used the proportion of correct answers from the RMET test.
Results: There was a significant positive correlation between the synchronization of the behavioral responses (reaction times) of the pairs tested and the performance measured by the RMET test (p <0.05). With better social cognitive performance (85% recognition rate,i.e., 1 SD above the mean), the correlation coefficient for behavioral response synchronization was significantly higher (r = 0.45) than with lower social cognitive performance (60% recognition rate,i.e., 1 SD below the mean) (r = 0.22).
Conclusion: The mentalization ability, as measured by the RMET test, is closely related to the level of behavioral synchronization between the individuals who participate in actual social interactions.

Additional Information

Funding: ÚNKP-19-3-I-SE-30
Doctoral School: Mental Health Sciences Supervisor: Pál Czobor
E-mail: kakuszi.brigitta@mail.semmelweis-univ.hu

Bemutatás módja

Szóbeli

Kind

Szabad

Status

elfogadva

Accepted presentation method

poszter

Előadás fájl jóváhagyás

nem rendelkezett róla

Előadó

2783

Start

12:49

End

12:52

Authors (legacy)

Hasan Cagin Lenk Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine
István Bitter Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest
Pál Czobor Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest