Interactional Synchrony and Rapport: Measuring Synchrony in Displays Devoid of Sound and Facial Affect

Abstract

The validity of a rating paradigm used to measure relative degrees of movement coordination occurring within social interaction (i.e., interactional synchrony) was examined. Untrained judges viewed video clips from 60 dyads, each recorded in two interaction contexts. Two types of video displays were generated. In one condition, judges rated interactional synchrony from standard video. In the mosaic display condition, all features and fine detail that normally would provide a rich array of socially informative data (e.g., facial expressions and twitches) were removed by digitalizing the video image into a mosaic of monocolored blocks. The patterns of synchrony results generated from the two display conditions were virtually identical. Whereas the ratings of synchrony from standard displays could have been influenced by expressed affect and interest, such confounds were unlikely to influence ratings made using the silent mosaic displays.