Eye Blinking as Addressee Feedback in Face-To-Face Conversation

2017/01/02 by Paul Hömke, Judith Holler, Stephen C. Levinson · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Psychology · #Digital Communication and Language #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Language, Metaphor, and Cognition

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/08351813.2017.1262143

openalex publication_date 2017/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Does blinking function as a type of feedback in conversation? To address this question, we built a corpus of Dutch conversations, identified short and long addressee blinks during extended turns, and measured their occurrence relative to the end of turn constructional units (TCUs), the location where feedback typically occurs. Addressee blinks were indeed timed to the end of TCUs. Also, long blinks were more likely than short blinks to occur during mutual gaze, with nods or continuers, and their occurrence was restricted to sequential contexts in which signaling understanding was particularly relevant, suggesting a special signaling capacity of long blinks.

Citations

• Speaking while monitoring addressees for understanding
• Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates
• A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation
• Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation
• Hesitation Phenomena in Spontaneous English Speech
• Mobilizing Response

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• Facial clues to conversational intentions
• Eye contact marks the rise and fall of shared attention in conversation

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