Explaining interactive alignment: A multimodal and multifactorial account

Abstract

A growing body of evidence shows that dialogue involves a process of synchronization across speakers at different semiotic levels. In this paper, we study which factors predict this synchronization process at the lexical and gestural level. A multifactorial analysis based on a video corpus of dyadic interactions reveals that cumulative priming can account for alignment at both levels. However, there is a crucial difference between the two modalities: at the lexical level cumulative priming is the only factor with explanatory power, whereas at the gestural level, alignment is best explained by how talkative speakers are, by whether or not two gestures overlap, and whether the gestures occur towards the end of the conversations. A comparison with related studies shows that high-level, referential synchronization and low-level, behavioural synchronization seem to be governed by different rules. Models of human interaction that focus on synchronization, should take both strands of research into account.