Synchrony of EEG and Action In Real-Time Toddler-Parent Social Interaction

研究人员、家长和教师都认为婴儿和儿童从他们的社会经历中学习。然而，关于婴儿和儿童的社会学习是如何发生的，人们知之甚少。例如，即使在一个简单的轮换游戏中，蹒跚学步的孩子和成年人如何适应对方？他们如何进入“节奏”，或影响彼此的下一轮？什么时候和为什么幼儿和父母会表现出对游戏和彼此的享受？我们对幼儿大脑如何产生这些社交行为和情绪几乎一无所知。这项拟议的研究将测量幼儿和父母在玩轮流游戏时行为的每时每刻的变化，同时记录他们的脑电(EEG)：头皮上的电变化，部分是由控制行动和交流的大脑新皮质引起的。两岁的幼儿和父母在触摸屏桌子上玩轮流游戏。他们创造了许多非脚本的社会行为，有时还会因为他们的合作行为而获得回报。幼儿和父母的手和头的位置被动作捕捉，因此他们的脑电可以精确地与他们的动作同步。最先进的分析将从幼儿和父母的脑电中获得最有意义的信息，与他们自己的行为和他们对对方行为的观察同步。高级统计将被用来分析整个游戏中的动作和脑电事件的模式。这一范式将被用来研究两个主要主题：首先，幼儿的大脑如何不仅记录自己的行动，也记录他人的行动？幼儿处理人类行为的大脑网络几乎是未知的，在正在进行的社会互动中也没有被研究过。研究结果将记录幼儿在感知父母行为时的大脑反应。这可能有助于研究人员理解父母如何在面对面的活动中促进孩子的参与和学习。这也可能说明了为什么一些蹒跚学步的孩子比其他孩子更善于社交。其次，在面对面的互动中获得的奖励对孩子的学习至关重要，但几乎不知道他们的大脑在社交互动中对奖励的反应。结果将记录幼儿和成年人对奖励，特别是合作奖励的行为和大脑反应。这将帮助研究人员了解蹒跚学步的孩子是如何在社交环境中发展学习社交技能的。当孩子开始上学时，这些技能是至关重要的。总而言之，一种测量时间锁定的大脑信号和轮流幼儿和父母行为的新范式将有助于培养社交联系和合作的技能。该项目还将为本科生和研究生以及非传统学生特许高中的实习生提供培训。参与的实验室还将为来自服务不足社区的高三学生举办实地考察，以了解神经科学。

Researchers, parents, and teachers all assume that infants and children learn from their social experiences. However, little is known about how social learning happens in infants and children. For example, even in a simple turn-taking game, how do toddlers and adults adapt to one another? How do they fall into a "rhythm," or affect one another's next turn? When and why do toddlers and parents show enjoyment of the game and of one another? We know almost nothing about how toddler's brains produce these social actions and emotions. The proposed research will measure moment-by-moment changes in the behaviors of toddlers and parents playing a turn-taking game, while also recording their electroencephalograms (EEG): changes in electricity on the scalp, partly caused by the brain's neocortex, which controls actions and communication. Two-year-old toddlers and parents play turn-taking games on a touch-screen table. They produce many unscripted social actions, and are sometimes rewarded for their cooperative actions. The positions of toddlers' and parents' hands and heads are motion-captured, so that their EEG can be precisely synchronized with their actions. State-of-the art analyses will derive the most meaningful information from the EEG of both toddler and parent, synchronized with their own actions and with their observation of the other's actions. Advanced statistics will be used to analyze patterns of actions and EEG events throughout the game.This paradigm will be used to investigate two major topics: First, how do toddlers' brains register not only their own actions but also other people's actions? Toddlers' brain networks for processing people's actions are virtually unknown, and have not been studied during ongoing social interactions. The results will document toddlers' brain responses to perceiving a parent's actions. This might help researchers understand how parents promote children's engagement and learning during face-to-face activities. It might also indicate why some toddlers are more socially responsive than others. Second, the rewards obtained during face-to-face interactions are crucial for children's learning, but almost nothing is known about how their brains respond to rewards during social interactions. The results will document toddlers' and adults' behavior and brain responses to rewards, especially rewards for cooperation. This will help researchers understand how toddlers develop social skills for learning in social contexts. These skills are critical when children begin school. In sum, a new paradigm for measuring time-locked brain signals and actions of turn-taking toddlers and parents will shed light on the development of skills for social connection and cooperation. The project will also provide training for undergraduate and graduate students, and interns from a charter high school for non-traditional students. The participating laboratories will also host field trips for high school seniors from underserved neighborhoods to learn about neuroscience.