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Research on the multisensory control of locomotion has demonstrated that adults exhibit auditory-motor entrainment across an array of contexts. In such work adults will consciously modulate the cadence of their walking when instructed to match their footfalls to an auditory metronome equal to, slower than, or faster than, their natural walking cadence. The current study extends such investigations to young toddlers between 14 and 24 months (n = 59, drawn from Toronto, Ontario), as well as adults (n = 20, drawn from Toronto, Ontario), demonstrating that even new walkers will modify their gait when presented with auditory input at or faster than their natural walking cadence. Additionally, the current study demonstrates that such modulations will occur in the absence of explicit instructions to modify gait for both toddlers and adults, suggesting an automatic level of auditory-motor entraining across ages.

From 2012 to 2023, the American Psychological Association served as publisher of Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain. Annabel Cohen and Mark Schmuckler were the successive editors-in-chiefs during this time. As the journal is ceasing publication, the two editors reflect on the development and progress of the journal in the context of the history of psychology and publication trends. They present their review in 10 short movements each with a unique musical emotional expressivity: overture, amabile, vivace, elegy doloroso, sforzando, capriccio, con brio, pendolo, agilmente, and finale risonante, ending on a very upbeat note! Early on, Psychomusicology offered a much-needed research forum for the psychology of music. More recently, the recognized importance of music psychology to almost all areas of psychology has led to increasing numbers of outlets for publication. During the 12 recent years under APA's stewardship, the journalmore than doubled the number of articles published since the journal's inception in 1981. The entire corpus of almost 600 articles represents foundational and well-cited contributions to such current research areas as musical expectancy, performance excellence, musical development, neuroscience, emotion, preference, and film music, among others. Cohen and Schmuckler express deep gratitude to the authors, past editorial board members, and reviewers for their contributions to this corpus, and to the American Psychological Association Publications office and staff both for support and, importantly, for holding and making accessible in perpetuity the outstanding scholarship within the archives of Psychomusicology: MusicMind & Brain and Psychomusicology: A Journal of Music Cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drive to move to music is evident across a variety of contexts, from the simple urge to tap our toe to a song on the radio, to massive crowds dancing in time at a rock concert. Though seemingly effortless, beat synchronization is difficult to master and children are often poor beat synchronizers. Nevertheless, auditory‐motor integration is fundamental for many daily processes, such as speech. A topic that has been relatively understudied concerns how stimulus properties affect young children's movement in responses to auditory stimuli. In the present study, we examined how musical groove (adult‐rated desire to move) affected 3.0‐ to 6.9‐year‐old children's free dancing in the comfort of their home (n = 78). In the high groove conditions, children danced more and with more energy compared to the low groove conditions. Moreover, in the high groove condition, children's movement tempos corresponded better with the tempos of the music. Results point to early childhood sensitivity to the musical features that motivate adults to move to music. High groove music may therefore prove especially effective at facilitating early auditory‐motor integration. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/vli0‐6N12Ts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers must infer "what babies know" based on what babies do. Thus, to maximize information from doing, researchers should use tasks and tools that capture the richness of infants' behaviors. We clarify Gibson's views about the richness of infants' behavior and their exploration in the service of guiding action - what Gibson called "learning about affordances."