Switching pauses in cooperative and competitive conversations

Abstract

The effects of three variables (conversation type, turn completeness, and sexual composition of the interacting dyad) on switching pause durations was investigated. Conversation type was represented by two categories of conversation: cooperative and competitive. A cooperative conversation is one in which participants cooperate in floor apportionment, while a competitive conversation is one in which the participants compete for the floor. Turn completeness has two levels and refers to the presence or absence of a turn-yielding signal in the utterance immediately preceding a switching pause. Three dyad compositions, male-male, female-female, and male-female were used, with six dyads in each category. The subjects participated in four conversations, two friendly chats and two arguments, on various topics. The switching pauses in competitive conversations were shorter than those in cooperative conversations. Furthermore, conversation type had a significant effect on the switching pause length following imcomplete utterances.