Local and global aspects of temporal patterning in the conversations of adults

A randomization procedure was used to examine local and global aspects of patterning in the conversations of 25 pairs of students. This procedure involved reorganizing the binary events constituting the partners' individual records, and then combining these events to produce randomized dyadic records of each conversation. Comparisons between the observed and randomized records indicated an overall tendency in all dyads to avoid covocalization (simultaneous talk). Notwithstanding this overall tendency, there were gender-related differences between groups; dyads containing female participants tended to covocalize more frequently, and for longer durations, than male-male dyads. There was also a tendency for participants to respond promptly to the talk of their partners. We interpret these results as indicating that systematic variation in the use of covocalization may occur at local levels within the constraints set by information-processing requirements at global levels.