The influence of reference acceptance and reuse on conversational memory traces

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Linguistics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Conversational memory is selective, with not all information being equally retained.
• Dialogue management strategies, such as reference acceptance and reuse, are crucial for effective communication.
• Understanding memory accessibility is key to improving conversational partner adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of reference acceptance and reuse on reference recognition in dialogue.
• To determine how landmark visibility influences memory for information shared during conversation.
• To explore the relationship between conversational memory and partner adaptation.

Main Methods:

• Dyads of speakers were tasked with collaboratively planning a route for a hypothetical person.
• Researchers analyzed participants' conversational memory for landmarks mentioned during the route discussion.
• Factors examined included the reuse of references and the visibility of landmarks within the dialogue.

Main Results:

• Conversational memory was significantly influenced by whether references were reused during the interaction.
• The identity of the speaker reusing the reference also affected memory accessibility.
• Landmark visibility during the dialogue was another key factor impacting memory recall.

Conclusions:

• Reference reuse and landmark visibility are critical components of dialogue management that shape conversational memory.
• These findings highlight the importance of adaptive dialogue strategies for effective communication.
• Improved understanding of conversational memory can enhance models of partner adaptation in dialogue systems.