Abstract
If a conversation is to proceed smoothly, the participants have
to take turns to speak. Studies of conversation have shown that
there are signals which speakers give to inform listeners that
they are willing to hand over the conversational turn1^1. Some
of these signals are part of the text (for example, completion
of syntactic segments), some are non-verbal (such as completion
of a gesture), but most are carried by the pitch, timing and
intensity pattern of the speech; for example, both pitch and
loudness tend to drop particularly low at the end of a speaker’s
turn. When one speaker interrupts another, the two can be said
to be disputing who has the turn. Interruptions can occur
because one participant tries to dominate or disrupt the con
versation. But it could also be the case that mistakes occur in
the way these subtle turn-yielding signals are transmitted and
received. We demonstrate here that many interruptions in an
interview with Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime
Minister, occur at points where independent judges agree that
her turn appears to have finished. It is suggested that she is
unconsciously displaying turn-yielding cues at certain inap
propriate points. The turn-yielding cues responsible are
identified.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 744-747 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 300 |
Issue number | 5894 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1982 |
Keywords
- Psychology