Variable delay affects conversational turn-taking behavior in the presence of background noise

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Communication Sciences
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Floor-transfer offsets (FTO) duration and variability increase with communication difficulty, like background noise.
• Talkers adapt behavior when their partner faces increased communication difficulty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if talkers use FTO timing changes as cues to detect partner communication difficulty.
• To understand the role of FTO timing in inferring conversational challenges.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a real-time system to manipulate communication line delay, altering perceived FTO duration and variability.
• Conducted dyadic conversations with and without background noise and delay.
• Analyzed behavioral changes in response to manipulated FTO timing.

Main Results:

• Manipulation of perceived FTO timing induced behavioral changes.
• These changes occurred only when background noise was present.
• No significant behavioral changes were observed with delay alone.

Conclusions:

• Talkers may use FTO timing as a cue to infer partner communication difficulty, particularly when noise is present.
• The expectation of difficulty, amplified by background noise, influences the utilization of FTO timing cues.